eFootball is here! Again! But we have our fingers crossed that this new 1.00 version actually lives up to Konami’s original vision.
In case you missed the kerfuffle, we’ll bring you up to speed. eFootball is Konami’s replacement for the PES football series and is free. At least, it’s free in the sense that you don’t have to pay to play, but there are loot box style mechanics such as the Premium Player Pack.
However, it was released last year in an Early Access state and was not, on the whole, well received. The 1.00 update, essentially the “full” version of the game was due that year but it was postponed and Konami issued refunds for anyone who purchased the Premium Player Pack. The update adds better ball and player behaviour, a dream team mode, “stunning kicks” and a few other features. You can find the full list of changes and updates, also dubbed “Season 1” here.
As we put it at the time, “eFootball 2022‘s release continues to be a shambles.” Has this release unshambled* the situation? We’ve yet to put it through its paces but, going by the Steam reviews, it’s making headway. Recent reviews have gone from Overwhelmingly Negative to, er.. Mostly Negative.
We do hope Konami turns things around with eFootball; as we pointed out, it’s got a lot of promise. But the cloud of negativity surrounding the title will be tough to dispel, not least because the company killed the Pro Evolution Series for this.
eFootball is available for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One and PC.
*Yes, that is a real word and if it’s not in your dictionary you have a faulty dictionary.
