Earlier today, reports surfaced that Japanese publisher Konami had canceled the PES franchise- at the very least, it was not listed as a release in the lineup that Konami shared with their investors, prompting many fears that the series would suffer the same kind of fate that befell Castlevania, Silent Hill, or that seems to await Metal Gear Solid once The Phantom Pain releases.
However, community manager of the PES series, Adam Bhatti, seems to have denied these rumors, which is a little reassuring, but does beg the question- why was the game not listed in the financials? Are Konami planning on making it a digital release? Are they skipping this year? Will PES instead launch next year?
Whatever it is, let’s hope the series is not canceled. Not only does it provide EA Sports’ FIFA some much needed competition, it also has been getting routinely better over the last few years, and doesn’t deserve to be cut short like that.
We’ll keep you posted.