EFootball PES 2020

eFootball PES 2020
Promotional image of the game featuring FC Barcelona player Lionel Messi
Developer(s)PES Productions
Publisher(s)Konami
Director(s)Yoshikatsu Ogihara
SerieseFootball Pro Evolution Soccer
EngineFox Engine
Unreal Engine 4 (Android, iOS)
Platform(s)Microsoft Windows
PlayStation 4
Xbox One
Android
iOS
Release
  • WW: 10 September 2019
  • JP: 12 September 2019
2021 Season Update:
  • WW: 15 September 2020
Genre(s)Sports
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

eFootball PES 2020 (eFootball Pro Evolution Soccer 2020) is a football simulation video game developed by PES Productions and published by Konami for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Android, and IOS.[1] The game is the 19th installment in the eFootball Pro Evolution Soccer series and was launched worldwide on 10 September 2019 and in Japan on 12 September 2019.

This year's edition features a name change with the addition of 'eFootball' within the title, symbolising a push in the online gaming space with a focus on eFootball Pro tournaments. Lionel Messi returned as the cover star of the standard edition, which was the first since his last appearance on the cover of Pro Evolution Soccer 2011, alongside PES ambassadors Serge Gnabry, Miralem Pjanić and Scott McTominay, each representing one of the game's partner clubs.[2] Ronaldinho was featured on the cover of the legend edition.[2] PES 2020 is the last game in the series to use Kojima Productions's Fox Engine. It is also the last installment in the franchise to use the PES name and branding as the following installment was just named eFootball and is free to play.[3][4]

The mobile version reached 300 million downloads by June 2020.[5]

Club partnerships

FC Barcelona

A renewed agreement between Konami and FC Barcelona was announced, demonstrating a continued relationship with the Catalan club. Together with this announcement, it was also confirmed that a special Barcelona edition will be released.[6]

Manchester United

Manchester United and Konami announced an agreement which would see the club, its stadiums and players recreated within the game. The current squad have also been created using a full-body 3D scanning process, providing players of the game with ultra-realistic avatars.[7] With an exciting atmosphere of the Old Trafford.

Bayern Munich

After the announcement of the demo—which came out on 30 July 2019,[8] FC Bayern Munich was announced as an official partner club.[9] Players will have the full experience with authentic kits, full 3D scanned players and, exclusively, Bayern's home ground, Allianz Arena.

Juventus

Juventus returned from PES 2020. They signed an exclusive partnership with the game, which will see it includes the club kits, player names and stadium with realistic likeness in-game and also making it the first time in 25 years that the FIFA series will not hold the license for the club. As a result, the club was known in FIFA 20 as "Piemonte Calcio". [10]

Arsenal

On 28 June 2019, Arsenal announced a 3-year extension to their partnership with Konami, which would see a highly detailed recreation of Emirates Stadium, as well as access to club legends and first-team players.[11]

AS Monaco

In July 2018, AS Monaco partnered with Konami for PES 2019. They renewed this agreement in 2020, which includes all access to real players and their stadium. The French version of the game also features Radamel Falcao and Philippe Coutinho.[12]

Celtic

Celtic reappeared as a licensed club in PES 2019 and have renewed their contract with Konami for the 2021 Season Update. This means players will have full access to their kits, emblem, players, and stadium.[13]

Game modes

Included for the first time in the PES series, there is a new game mode called Matchday Mode. Players around the world will help their team to glory one match at a time in the new Matchday mode. Konami will choose an important match or derby game each week, players will then be able to decide which team they want to represent on Matchday.[14]

Master League has also received a number of revamps, most notably containing a story-like progression, with all-new cutscenes taking place in staff meetings, training sessions or press conferences, as well as objectives to be accomplished based on replies given by the player on those cutscenes.

Data Pack 7 was released on 4 June 2020. The update was related to UEFA Euro 2020 and the content included the official kits and player likenesses for all 55 officially licensed UEFA teams. The update also included 5 out of 11 venues of the tournament, as well as the official match ball.[15] This is also the last PES to have the UEFA Euro and UEFA license altogether.[16]


Teams

Competitions

Nineteen leagues are fully licensed in the game. All the teams in these leagues feature real players, kits and logos, although a minority of the players in the Brazilian leagues still appear with generic names.[17] Three new league licenses were obtained: the Italian Serie A, Italian Serie B (unlicensed at launch), and the Brazilian Campeonato Brasileiro Série B.[18][17]

Konami have retained the license for the AFC Champions League, remaining in the game since its introduction in PES 2014.[17] With this, debutants for 2019 AFC Champions League, Gyeongnam, Al Zawraa, Daegu and Johor Darul Ta'zim also appear for the first time in this franchise.

The English Premier League (with the exceptions of Manchester United and Arsenal), EFL Championship, Spanish La Liga (except for Barcelona and Mallorca) and Segunda División will appear as unlicensed leagues in the game. These leagues will, however, feature real players.[17] Serie A have all clubs licensed, except Brescia.

Thai League 1 and Chinese Super League are also included.[19]

Leagues

Fully Licensed

Commentary

Reception

By the end of September 2019, the PES franchise had sold 106.8 million copies. By December 2020, the franchise had sold 111 million copies, an increase of 4.2 million between October 2019 and December 2020.[30]

eFootball PES 2020 received generally positive reviews from critics for all platforms.[20][21][22]

Awards

Year Award Category Result Ref
2019 Game Critics Awards Best Sports Game Won [31]
Gamescom Nominated [32]
2019 Golden Joystick Awards Best Multiplayer Game Nominated [33]
Titanium Awards Best Sports/Racing Game Nominated [34]
The Game Awards 2019 Nominated [35]

Mesut Özil controversy

In December 2019, Arsenal midfielder Mesut Özil was completely removed from the Mandarin version in Mainland China, after the fallout surrounding his tweet condemning the Chinese government crackdown on Uyghurs. According to NetEase Games, they stated that his comments "hurt the feelings of Chinese fans and violated the sport's spirit of love and peace. We do not understand, accept or forgive this."[36]

eFootball PES 2021 Season Update

On 15 July 2020, it was announced that eFootball PES 2021 Season Update would be released in celebration of the series' 25th anniversary, due to PES Productions focusing development efforts on the upcoming eFootball and its first year entitled eFootball 2022. Konami made a "Season Update" to focus on the development.[37] It also acts as a separate game from eFootball PES 2020, meaning that it will not be required to play.

Lionel Messi (Barcelona) is the cover star of the standard edition, alongside PES ambassadors Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus), Alphonso Davies (Bayern Munich), and Marcus Rashford (Manchester United), each representing one of the game's partner clubs.[38]

Konami announced an exclusive multi-year partnership with A.S. Roma and S.S. Lazio, while A.C. Milan and Inter Milan are not featured after they signed exclusive partnership deals with EA Sports, and instead are known as Milano RN and Lombardia NA respectively.

The Season Update was released for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Windows on 15 September.

Trivia

References

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