The publisher today showed off gameplay for eFootball - what was once PES - with a new trailer, below, and confirmed a handful of new mechanics and gameplay features that won’t be available until some future update. For example, the new control ball trapping feature is only available post-launch. “Loads of dribbles and body feints are also available with intuitive commands,” Konami said. “These make every duel an exciting moment for both attacker and defender.” A new feature called “sharp kicks”, which comes with new animations, also won’t be available at launch. “Sharp kicks” are special kicks, such as sharp crosses and fast lofted passes, that take more time to execute (you have to charge them, it seems). In the video we see an example of this: a dipping shot from outside the area by Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford. The PlayStation 5 version’s use of the DualSense’s haptic feedback and adaptive triggers also won’t be available until a future post-launch update. Konami had already described eFootball’s early autumn launch as “basically a demo”. “We want people to get hands-on with eFootball as soon as possible, so we will launch with a limited number of teams and modes,” Konami said. Now we know this launch also includes a limited number of on-the pitch mechanics. What will make it in for launch is a rework for the system that judges fouls (thankfully), and a new camera zoom for duels out on the wing. There’s also a seamless restart system. Last month Konami announced it had renamed PES to eFootball and made it free-to-play and digital-only. eFootball launches worldwide first on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X and S, Xbox One, and Windows 10 and PC via Steam early autumn, with iOS and Android to follow soon after. At launch, only local matches featuring the likes of Barcelona, Juventus, Bayern and Manchester United will be available, alongside cross-generation matchmaking (PS5 vs PS4, and Xbox Series X and S vs Xbox One). You’ll be able to play against CPU teams via local match. During this time eFootball won’t have microtransactions, Konami clarified, which means everything will be free-to-play. Then, later in the autumn, cross-play between all consoles and PC goes live, alongside a team-building mode and online leagues, where you “take your original team and compete in a global, competitive league”. Then, in the winter, Konami will add mobile controller support, full cross-play matchmaking across all platforms, including mobile when using a controller, and pro and amateur esports tournaments. Konami has said it plans to sell individual game modes as optional DLC, “giving players the freedom to build an experience that follows their interests.” One of these DLC game modes is Master League, perhaps Pro Evolution Soccer’s most famous game mode. Konami has not said how much it will cost. There’s been a lot of talk about eFootball’s visuals after Konami quietly launched what was called ‘New Football Game Online Performance Test’ on console last month (gameplay video below). At the time we thought it was an early look at PES 2022. We now know it was an early look at eFootball. The concern revolves around the fact eFootball will be available on mobile as well as PC and console with, eventually, crossplay across all platforms (eFootball is developed on the Unreal game engine - not Konami’s own Fox Engine). “eFootball is developed first for consoles but is a platform for everyone to enjoy,” Konami said. “The game will take full advantage of the hardware capabilities of each supported device.” Will next-gen graphics be downgraded to play against mobile users? “We will make graphical adjustments to the mobile version but the next-generation graphics on consoles and PC will not be downgraded,” Konami insisted.
