Pro Evolution Soccer

eFootball Pro Evolution Soccer
eFootball Pro Evolution Soccer
	WE-PES logo used from PES 2009 until eFootball PES 2021 Season Update
Genre(s)	Sports (association football)
Developer(s)	Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo (1995–2005); Konami Digital Entertainment Co., Ltd. (2006–2013); PES Productions (2014–2020)
Publisher(s)	Konami
Platform(s)	Android, GameCube, iOS, PlayStation, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, PlayStation Portable, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS, Nintendo 3DS, Wii, Windows, Windows Phone 7, Xbox, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S
First release	J.League Jikkyou Winning Eleven; 21 July 1995
Latest release	eFootball 2024; 7 September 2023

eFootball Pro Evolution Soccer (eFootball PES), known as eFootball World Soccer Winning Eleven (eFootball WE)^[a] in Japan, is a series of association football simulation video games developed by Konami Digital Entertainment Co., Ltd. and published by Konami.

The series consists of eighteen main installments and several spin-offs, including the mobile game Pro Evolution Soccer Club Manager. Listed as one of the best-selling video game franchises, the series has sold 111 million copies worldwide, in addition to 400 million mobile downloads, December 2020^[update].^[1]

Pro Evolution Soccer was regarded as a rival to the EA Sports FIFA series;^[2] it has been described by The Guardian as the "greatest rivalry" in the history of sports video games.^[3]

An esports league, eFootball.Open (previously named PES World Finals or PES League), has been held by Konami annually since 2010.

As the successor to the PES series, Konami released eFootball in 2021.

Gameplay

Gameplay simulates a typical game of association football, with the player controlling either an entire team or a selected player; objectives coincide with the rules of association football. Various game modes have been featured in the series, allowing for gameplay variety, including the Kick Off, Online and Offline modes. In addition to these modes, there is an editing one where the player can create teams of their own.

Master League

The Master League mode, gives the user control of a team of user's selection. Originally, the players were all generic-fictional players, however this later changed giving the user the option to change the settings and choose to play with default players. These players, such as Brazilian forward Castolo, have become cult figures to many people playing the Master League. The aim is to use these players and gain points by winning matches, cups and leagues. Using acquired points to purchase real players to join the team. Ultimately, one should end up with a team of skilled players.

From PES 3 (Winning Eleven 7), players' growth and decline curves were added, where a player's statistics may improve or decline, depending on training and age. This added a new depth to purchasing players, adding value to an up-and-coming youngster whose abilities rise dramatically and creating a trade-off if the player buys skilled but declining veterans.

Editing

Fans of the series often make "option files" and "patches" which modify all player names into those of their real life counterparts, as well as including transfers from the latest transfer window and, occasionally, altered stats of more obscure players whose in-game attributes do not precisely replicate their real life skills.

More experienced gamers often use "patches", editing the actual game code and modifying the graphical content to include accurate kits for unlicensed teams, new stadiums, and footballs from Nike, Inc., Puma, Umbro and Mitre, as well as more Adidas balls. Most patches also contain licensed referee kits from FIFA and the official logos of the various European leagues. These patches are technically a breach of copyright, and are often sold illegally in territories like South America. Konami have become less tolerant of this kind of fan editing in recent years, and now encrypt the data pertaining to kits and player statistics in each new release. However, fan communities invariably find ways to crack this encryption, and patches still appear once this has been achieved.

Since Pro Evolution Soccer 6 onwards, there has been a separate league with 18 generic teams (Team A, Team B, Team C etc.) present, which can be edited fully. This is thought to be due to the fact that Konami failed to get the rights to the German Bundesliga, and is usually made into the Bundesliga or another league of one's preference by patch makers. However, most people use this to put their edited players into playable teams from the start instead of having to play through Master League to purchase them or alternatively edit the existing non-generic teams. This feature does not appear in the Wii version of the game (but, as stated above, the non-generic teams can be edited anyway).

History

International Superstar Soccer (1994), the first game in Konami's International Superstar Soccer (ISS) series, released for the SNES. A rivalry subsequently emerged between the FIFA and ISS franchises.^[3]^[4]

International Superstar Soccer Pro (ISS Pro), released for the PlayStation in 1997, was considered a "game-changer" for association football games, which had been largely dominated by rival FIFA on home systems for the last several years. Developed by Konami Tokyo, ISS Pro introduced a new 3D engine capable of better graphics and more sophisticated gameplay than its rival. Whereas FIFA had a simpler "arcade-style" approach to its gameplay, ISS Pro introduced more complex simulation gameplay emphasizing tactics and improvisation, enabled by tactical variety such as nine in-match strategy options. It spawned the Pro Evolution Soccer (PES) series, which became known for having "faster-paced tactical play" and more varied emergent gameplay, while FIFA was known for having more licenses.^[3]^[4]

The PES series had sold more than 10 million units by 2002,^[5] while the FIFA series had sold over 16 million units by 2000.^[6] In the late 2000s and onwards, EA and Konami began borrowing gameplay elements from one another's respective titles, and eventually (due to poor impressions of PES 2008, and higher-than-expected impressions of FIFA 08), FIFA managed to pull ahead by a significant margin in the early 2010s and emerged as the world's most successful sports video game franchise. The rivalry between FIFA and PES is considered the "greatest rivalry" in the history of sports video games.^[3]^[4]

In 2020 the series was rebranded to eFootball and switched to a new engine. This was met with mixed to negative reviews from both critics and customers alike.

Series overview

Goal Storm / ISS Pro series

Pro Evolution Soccer series traces its roots to Goal Storm (also known as World Soccer Winning Eleven in Japan). The game was developed by Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo and was released in 1996. The first Winning Eleven game, without the World Soccer prefix, was J.League Jikkyou Winning Eleven which was released only in Japan for the PlayStation in 1995, and featured only the 14 clubs that played in 1995 J.League. The following three games in the series were also produced by Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo and they were released under the name of ISS Pro for the European market and Winning Eleven for the rest of the world. Every game in this series was released on the PlayStation.

Europe and North America		Japan
Name	Release date	Name	Release date
Goal Storm	December 22, 1995	World Soccer Winning Eleven	1996
ISS Pro / Goal Storm 97	1 June 1997	World Soccer Winning Eleven '97	1997
ISS Pro 98	1 May 1998	World Soccer Jikkyou Winning Eleven 3 ~World Cup France 1998~ World Soccer Jikkyou Winning Eleven 3: Final Ver.	28 May 1998
ISS Pro Evolution	May 1999	World Soccer Jikkyou Winning Eleven 4	2 September 1999
ISS Pro Evolution 2 (EU) / ESPN MLS Gamenight (NA)	23 March 2001	World Soccer Jikkyou Winning Eleven 2000: U-23 Medal Heno Chousen	24 August 2000