Many a sports fan has long hoped that annual sports titles would eventually scale back on annual releases in favor of seasonal updates. Konami is taking somewhat of a turn in that direction with eFootball PES 2021, which will launch as a “season update” of eFootball PES 2020. However, it’s worth noting that PES 2020 owners will still need to buy a standalone experience for access to this so-called update.
Developers are hard at work on a next-gen entry for PES. Fans should expect every facet of the experience to receive an overhaul, thanks to an “updated engine”—Konami is moving PES off of the Fox Engine and over to Unreal for the next game—that will introduce more realistic player models, improved animations, enhanced physics, and photorealistic visuals. The scale of Konami’s next-gen ambitions means something had to give, though. “As a result, we have made the decision to launch this year’s PES as a streamlined offering in the form of a ‘season update,'” reads a statement on the publisher’s website. Konami seems certain the update will provide enough changes to tide fans over until the first next-gen PES entry hits stores.
This is all perfect timing, too, since the series celebrates its 25th anniversary this month. As such, the PES 2020 “season update” will release across the PS4, PC via Steam, and Xbox One platforms for “an affordable anniversary price and will also come with several bonuses.” At the time of writing, a specific price and date for this release is unknown.
Konami plans to host a beta for the franchise’s next-gen project in mid-2021. A full release is expected to roll out sometime later that same year, according to the post from PES‘ development team. It’s expected to be a next-gen release, but aside from general timelines, we don’t know much else just yet.
[Source: PES 25th Anniversary Website]
