PES 2021 Will Only Be A “Season Update” Of Last Years Game

Earlier today Konami announced that PES 2021 will not be released as fully fledged title but rather a “season update” of last year’s game.

Pro Evolution Football, or PES to its friends, is 25 years old this year. But rather than celebrate this milestone by releasing the best version of the game to date. Konami has decided to hold off releasing a new version of the game this year entirely. The reasoning behind this move is very simple.

Next Gen PES

With the Xbox Series X and PS5 just around the corner. Konami wants to take full advantage of the power that those new machines will have to offer. In order to do that, Konami is switching PES from the Fox Engine to the latest version of the Unreal Engine.

However, as a result of changing game engines. Konami is affording itself a bit more time to polish the next gen iteration of PES to highest standards in terms of graphics, animations and physics. Because most of their efforts are focused on next years title. PES 2021 will only be an updated version of last years game.

Konami are not stupid though. They know people will not fork out top dollar for what is essentially the same game as last year. As a result, PES 2021 will NOT be a full price title. Below is a snippet of what Konami had to say on the matter. To check out the full press release, follow the link here.

This title is being developed with an updated engine that will enable us to dazzle you with staggering improvements to all areas of the game. Expect more realistic player models and animations, enhanced physics, photorealistic visuals, and much much more.

However, the sheer scale of everything we are aiming to achieve for our next-gen debut has made it necessary to pare back our efforts in other areas of development. 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”. That being said, we are still extremely confident that this year’s game offers fans more than enough thrills to tide them over until our next-gen title is ready for launch.

The Right Move

To go along with the announcement. Konami also released a short teaser trailer, which you can check out below. The teaser shows off Messi’s character model running on the Unreal Engine for PES 2022.

So there you have it PES fans, no new game this year but hopefully by this time next year we’ll be getting our first look at the best game yet in the series running on the latest tech. I know some of you out there will be disappointed with this news but I think Konami have made the right move here.

For a start, they are been honest with their fans. Konami are not trying to sell them a full price game with just updated rosters and player stats this year. Also, they are taking their time to deliver a definitive next gen experience with PES 2022 using the Unreal Engine. They are not trying to rush it out the door this year just to compete with FIFA.

But what do you think? Are you interested in picking up PES 2021? Or will you wait till next year to get the full next gen experience with PES 2022. Please feel free to leave any thoughts you have in the comments below.

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Image Credit eFootball PES YouTube