Konami's Pro Evolution Soccer Rebranded As Free-to-Play eFootball

A few weeks ago, we heard that Konami's Pro Evolution Soccer might be getting a free-to-play makeover, and today came word of that exact thing. Future entries in the PES series will instead be known as eFootball, and it will be F2P on iOS, Android, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and PC via Steam when the next installment launches later this year.

eFootball is PES rebuilt from the ground up in Unreal Engine 4, with four times as many animations as in last year's edition. Cross-play between select platforms will be available at launch, with all platforms having the feature enabled by winter.

In an interview with IGN, series producer Seitaro Kimura said that there won't be annual releases for the title but instead free updates for new seasons. Exhibition matches between nine clubs are part of the free offerings, with additional modes being available for purchase.

That's only the most basic attempt at explaining the game's monetization, which IGN said "won't be revealed until a later date." Notably, there's no mention of a FIFA Ultimate Team-like mode, but seeing how much money that's generated for EA, it's hard to imagine it wouldn't be a part of eFootball -- if Konami can figure out a way to make its loot packs palatable to legislators.

Konami said it will reveal more details about the game in late August. As you can see from the roadmap above, eFootball's launch is planned for early autumn, with additional features to be added over the coming months. You can learn more about eFootball on its official website.