Konami admitted that the evolution of its football game, which has been running as eFootball PES (Pro Evolution Soccer), will not have a proper launch.

Konami will release its Unreal Engine-based football game on consoles (PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, PlayStation 4, Xbox One) and PC, followed by an iOS and Android release later. eFootball could be solid competition for FIFA, as it’s going to be a free-to-play title. However, the early autumn launch will be limited, and the Japanese company itself was the one to claim it…

Konami had a Q&A on Twitter, and we’ll quote the new details from here: “eFootball is developed first for consoles but is a platform for everyone to enjoy. The game will take full advantage of the hardware capabilities of each supported device. We will make graphical adjustments to the mobile version, but the next-generation graphics on consoles and PC will not be downgraded.” We believe that the PlayStation 4 and the Xbox One versions will still see some changes, especially from their stronger counterparts.

“We will include multiple filters for matchmaking based on location and platform,” meaning you can play with a limited number of players, but the cross-play options will all be enabled by default. “Is the “Early Autumn” launch a demo? In many ways, yes. We want people to get hands-on with eFootball as soon as possible so that we will launch with a limited number of teams and modes.” There’s your admission.

“During “Early Autumn”, eFootball will have no micro-transactions – so everything will be free-to-play at launch. We will then add more content during “Autumn”.” So they will wait to get players hooked. “Can I play against the CPU/AI from “Early Autumn”? Yes, Local Match will include this.” Good call on their end.

“Will there be support for Edit Mode / Option Files? We plan to add Edit Mode / Option Files as a free update for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4 and PC after the initial release. Master League will be available as premium downloadable content in the future.” So both paid and free updates are coming. And finally: “Previous games had a strong “lottery element”, but eFootball lets you nominate and acquire your favourite players with Match Pass, a system to receive items based on matches played. Free & Paid Match Passes will be available.” Battle Pass in football form.

There are some good ideas here…

Source: WCCFTech