Well, after a lot of teasing and waiting, KONAMI has released the official release trailer for eFootball 2022. Well, for those who are thinking about what has happened with their household name ‘Pro Evolution Soccer (PES)‘, it has been let go. So, simply told, the future titles will come by the name ‘eFootball’. July 21st marks the anniversary of the original PES franchise, so this trailer release does become a major announcement from their side. However, after the announcement, a lot of confusion within the fanbase about the game is there, so we will try to clear queries and explain about the upcoming release.
From Pro Evolution Soccer (PES) to eFootball
This had been in the news for a long time, as leaks of a logo change surfaced in early May 2021, and now it has been true. To be honest, KONAMI dropping their household name PES is a big move. The name has been a big brand for almost two decades now, and this will definitely be a major change considering how well the franchise was doing. Since the official confirmation is on the switch from PES to eFootball, all platforms will have the same title, and most preferably a rumor of Mobile and other platforms having a different system and title will not stand.
PES is a popular brand name and removing it might be tough to digest for fans, but for KONAMI it seems to be bold but in the right direction to move. They aim to make the game competitive, and eFootball might be the fitting title to do so. However, the logo and the overall look are quite underwhelming, and we feel some work could have been done on the creative area.
What’s coming with eFootball 2022
From KONAMI’s announcement, we can guess that a plethora of new additions would be added to the game. However from the trailer, we can see their whole idea on how they want eFootball 2022 to be projected to the audience, and basically, they will try to get many audiences by adding such features that will be in the best interest of the players. But for all the new things to be experienced, we need to wait.
The big news here is that KONAMI has confirmed the new game will be Free to Play on multiple devices. That indicates you don’t need to pay for the game for the initial purchase. However, it will sell other modes as an optional DLC purchase within the game, so that the users can choose what they would like to have in their game. In the reveal trailer, there isn’t any mention of Master League, MyClub, or Become a Legend, which might lead to speculations that they might be purchasable options/modes.
eFootball 2022 Roadmap
The official roadmap for eFootball 2022 was revealed in the reveal trailer. As seen in the image, we can see how they have planned out the entire roadmap for the game. When we see the overall idea, it is very clear that the main focus is on the competitive side, and most of the stuff can be seen in PvP mode.
Early Autumn: Game Rollout
According to the plan, in early autumn (around September – October), the new game engine rollout will be made official. During the period, we can see 9 clubs available to play for the players in local matches mode. In simple words, this is like the first phase of a game, not completely build but just to get a clear idea. With this comes the Cross-Generation matches, like PS4 vs PS5 matchups, indicating there will be little or no change over console/generation gameplay. KONAMI has announced that players can enjoy cutting-edge graphics and incomparable immersion on new-gen consoles.
Autumn: Game Modes, Match Pass
Autumn is when things become interesting. There are two new modes to make note of – Online League and Squad Building Mode. How these two modes would appear in the game would be a question of doubt but as of now, we cannot give concrete details as nothing’s been revealed yet. It would be very fitting, as KONAMI having league licenses and not utilizing to the fullest were the complaints often we could hear, and this would be a big boost on the void that had been left in the other PES franchises.
Cross-Platform is another new feature that we can see here, although there are a lot of doubts on how they would implement it in the game. Players used to have UE4 for mobile and Fox Engine for Console, and with all the platforms having the same engine in eFootball 2022, it might be seen as unfair for all the players as each platform has its own advantages and disadvantages. Simply put, it is better to have such cross-platform modes separate for only those who have devices with controller support and not involve in the normal matchdays/online games. How KONAMI will plan all this is something to look out for.
Match Pass is a new idea in PES, although followed by different games like FIFA Mobile, PUBG Mobile, etc. This isn’t any new thing to explain, but in PES we can see this as an achievement rewarding system, which means players might find to fulfill daily tasks or complete X number of matches to get Match Pass points and then unlock each tier. This will definitely come as both Free and Paid pass tiers. The reward might be the in-game items/players/efootball points. As given in the image, we can also see the card design, which might be for different types of cards/rarity.
Winter: eSports
Esports have been the backbone of any multiplayer game in order to attract an audience. Without a doubt, the PES titles have focused on the same, and this time around, eFootball 2022 will bring more esports action. Mobile platforms usually missed out on more competitive tournaments and didn’t have that luxury of playing in eFootball tournaments except for Matchday finals. With this update, players can find themselves involved in more direct PvP competitions, with cross-platform being the major part of it. Both esports action and controller support will come during the summer, so we can expect a big update during this period even if the game is released across all platforms.
FAQs on eFootball 2022
There were a lot of questions on the internet that needed reasonable answering, so here are some of them answered:
Q: What does cross-platform actually mean?
A: A cross-platform software/game is software/game that is being implemented or played on multiple computing platforms. Games like Among Us, Fornite have this support.
Q: Is eFootball 2022 completely cross-platform?
A: About this one, nobody can give a direct answer but one can speculate. Nobody knows KONAMI’s plans. Most of the players have mistaken the cross-platform term. It is mentioned in the roadmap that it will see light only on Winter for Mobile. Given that esports will kickoff only in the Winter, it can be assumed that Mobile users will have modes that will be cross-platform only from the Winter. So, not all games would be cross-platform, only competitive events could be. Since this will go phase by phase, we can see KONAMI considering all the options and then choosing the right one.
Q: Will the mobile get a full reset or will the players be carryover?
A: Let us break this down into two cases. If the game is completely cross-platform, then there are no instances where mobile players will get to keep their players. It would be unfair, to begin with, as the console/PC players should start from scratch every season and mobile players get to keep the players. In another case where only some events are cross-platform organized, then yes, we could see KONAMI allowing players to save all the players or at least a few selected ones. As of now, these are only speculations.
Q: If all platforms have the same game, will mobile players get to play Become a Legend or Master League?
A: This is where things get tricky. Already we have a big game in hand, around 2GB in size. More features=a much bigger game size. An argument could be made by mentioning games like Genshin Impact having a massive game size for a mobile game, still having a worldwide fan base. If the game modes are introduced and are worth the size, we see no hesitation from players on this one. But as of now, no news on this. So don’t blindly follow fake sources.
Final Thoughts
We can see there is a lot of confusion regarding this one, which is pretty normal. Dropping the PES title off and bringing eFootball seems to be an indication that it would be mostly PvP, and offline modes (non PvP) seem to be slim. When we round things up, the trailer did promise us new additional features, but the graphics look somewhat underwhelming. The graphics feel a bit mobile-ish, although the presentation screens and the cutscenes look fresh. Since this is just the trailer, we should wait and see what’s more to come. Further announcements will be made on the future for sure, as of now, we can just speculate.
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Konami is money grabbing again…saying free to play but behind that huge money wall. Console users after all the faith have been let down. What a shame