“We started planning this move roughly two years ago to coincide with the console generation transition and changes in the market environment. I believe that we have already proven that this structure can be successful on mobile. By applying the same model across all platforms, we hope that more football fans will be able to play this game on consoles as well.”

Kimura also noted some of the changes coming to the control, like sprinting now being done by holding down the Right Trigger. There’s  also Ball Control which “takes advantage of the R2/RT [trigger buttons’] analog input to freely control the strength of the ball touch, and ‘Knock-On’ enables instantaneous strong touches. Since dribbling is naturally against a defender, we have also added some new elements to the defensive controls, such as ‘Match-up’ and ‘Physical Defending’.

“In order to understand how the best players in the world play the sport, we brought in [footballers Andrés Iniesta and Gerard Piqué] as gameplay advisors and asked for their advice. It was a big decision to change the controls that people are used to, but it made the battle for the ball more realistic and more reflective of the user’s intentions.”

The objective is to make playing against others more enjoyable since Kimura feels it provides “a greater thrill than what AI can provide. We believe that the 1v1 offense and defense realized in this way is the most important innovation of eFootball.”

Along with bigger updates, eFootball will have weekly live updates. This will reflect any real-world changes to squads along with transfers. There will also be “in-game campaigns” though not much information was provided on the same. Each season will see roster updates, new kits and upgrades to both the gameplay and visuals. Player feedback will play a role and help facilitate changes faster than usual.

“The platform model gives us the opportunity to provide meaningful updates irregularly, if appropriate, without having to ask users to download a new game,” says Kimura.

eFootball is slated to release this Autumn for PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS4 and PS5 with the iOS and Android versions following later. Stay tuned for more details in the meantime.

As IGN notes, cross-play will be available for all versions by the Winter (with mobile players needing to use controllers to participate). Instead of the FOX Engine, eFootball is developed on a custom version of Unreal Engine 4. All versions will be functionally the same though it will be lighter in content at launch. The plan is to provide free yearly updates instead of new annual releases with eFootball serving as a platform as per series producer Seitaro Kimura. And yes, there will be a Battle Pass-style system with Match Passes.

Exhibition matches and nine clubs are available at launch but other modes must be purchased via DLC (which will be optional). Konami hasn’t detailed how monetization will work but it wants to make the game “fair and balanced” for all. The good news is that Peter Drury and Jim Belgin are returning as the English-language commentators along with Option Files for customizing the game (though the latter is coming post launch).

In terms of new features, fans can expect a new animation system called Motion Matching which provides four times as many animations as previous titles. It will also be available for all versions of the game in stark contrast to FIFA 22’s HyperMotion being exclusive to Xbox Series X/S and PS5. More details on the gameplay and online modes are coming in late August so stay tuned. In the meantime, check out the roadmap below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jzd7OpCHCi0

“Please note that gameplay mechanics, balancing, animations and graphics are all under development and will be improved before the official launch,” Konami writes.

Interested folks can directly hop on either the PlayStation Store or Microsoft’s Xbox store to download the game and start playing right away. Most likely to be called PES 2022 in the future, the open beta is available now on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, and Xbox Series S.

The purpose of the open beta is to test the network performance in online matchmaking across various regions. There’s still no cross-platform play as of yet, but players within the same console families can play together across generations. More details including the game’s release date will be shelled in an event scheduled to take place on the 21st of July.

Last year, Konami confirmed that Pro Evolution Soccer would be moving from the Fox Engine to Unreal Engine with its next instalment. Read more on that through here.