eFootball Pro Evolution Soccer (eFootball PES), known as 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 copies worldwide, in addition to mobile downloads, .
Pro Evolution Soccer was regarded as a rival to the EA Sports' FIFA series; it has been described by The Guardian as the "greatest rivalry" in the history of sports video games. 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. 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.
The PES series had sold more than units by 2002, while the FIFA series had sold over units by 2000. 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. 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 for the European market and 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 22 December 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
Pro Evolution Soccer series
Series overview
+ Released versions in the series European title North American title Asian editions Asian region First release 5th gen 6th Gen 7th Gen 8th Gen 9th gen PC Handheld Pro Evolution Soccer ESPN MLS ExtraTime 2002 World Soccer: Winning Eleven 5J-League Winning Eleven 5World Soccer Winning Eleven 5 Final EvolutionJ-League Jikkyou Winning Eleven 2001 (PS) Japan 25 October 2001 PS (EU, Japan) PS2 Pro Evolution Soccer 2 World Soccer: Winning Eleven 6 International World Soccer: Winning Eleven 6J-League Winning Eleven 6World Soccer: Winning Eleven 6 - Final EvolutionWorld Soccer: Winning Eleven 2002 (PS) Japan 19 September 2002 PS (EU, Japan) PS2, GameCube Pro Evolution Soccer 3 World Soccer: Winning Eleven 7 International World Soccer: Winning Eleven 7 World Soccer: Winning Eleven 7 International Japan 7 August 2003 PS2 Windows Pro Evolution Soccer 4 World Soccer: Winning Eleven 8 International World Soccer: Winning Eleven 8J-League Winning Eleven 8 Asia ChampionshipWorld Soccer: Winning Eleven 8 - Liveware Evolution Japan 5 August 2004 PS2, Xbox Windows Pro Evolution Soccer 5 World Soccer: Winning Eleven 9 World Soccer: Winning Eleven 9World Soccer: Winning Eleven 9 - Ubiquitous EditionJ-League Winning Eleven 9: Asia ChampionshipWorld Soccer: Winning Eleven 9 - Liveware Evolution Japan and South Korea 4 August 2005 PS2, Xbox Windows PSP Pro Evolution Soccer 6 Winning Eleven: Pro Evolution Soccer 2007 World Soccer: Winning Eleven 10World Soccer: Winning Eleven 10 - Ubiquitous EditionJ-League Winning Eleven 10: Europa League 06-07World Soccer: Winning Eleven 10 - Liveware EvolutionWorld Soccer: Winning Eleven X Japan and South Korea 27 October 2006 PS2 Xbox 360 Windows PSP, DS Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 World Soccer: Winning Eleven 2008Winning Eleven Play Maker 2008 (Wii)World Soccer: Winning Eleven Ubiquitous Evolution 2008 (PSP) Japan 13 September 2007 PS2 Xbox 360, PS3, Wii Windows PSP, DS Pro Evolution Soccer 2009 World Soccer: Winning Eleven 2009Winning Eleven Play Maker 2009 (Wii) Japan 17 October 2008 PS2 Xbox 360, PS3, Wii Windows PSP, Mobile phones Pro Evolution Soccer 2010 World Soccer: Winning Eleven 2010Winning Eleven Play Maker 2010 (Wii)World Soccer: Winning Eleven 2010 - Aoki Samurai no Chousen Japan 23 October 2009 PS2 Xbox 360, PS3, Wii Windows PSP, iOS, Nokia Pro Evolution Soccer 2011 World Soccer: Winning Eleven 2011Winning Eleven Play Maker 2011 (Wii) Japan 20 October 2010 PS2 Xbox 360, PS3, Wii Windows PSP, 3DS, iOS, Android, Windows Phone 7 Pro Evolution Soccer 2012 World Soccer: Winning Eleven 2012Winning Eleven Play Maker 2012 (Wii) Japan and Middle East 27 September 2011 PS2 Xbox 360, PS3, Wii Windows PSP, 3DS, iOS, Android, Windows Phone 7 Pro Evolution Soccer 2013 World Soccer: Winning Eleven 2013Winning Eleven Play Maker 2013 (Wii) Japan and Middle East 20 September 2012 PS2 Xbox 360, PS3, Wii Windows PSP, 3DS Pro Evolution Soccer 2014 World Soccer: Winning Eleven 2014World Soccer: Winning Eleven 2014 - Aoki Samurai no Chousen Japan and Middle East 20 September 2013 PS2 Xbox 360, PS3 Windows PSP, 3DS (JP) Pro Evolution Soccer 2015 World Soccer: Winning Eleven 2015World Soccer: Winning Eleven 2015 - Konami the Best Japan and Middle East 11 November 2014 Xbox 360, PS3 Xbox One, PS4 Windows Pro Evolution Soccer 2016 Winning Eleven 2016 (Japan)Pro Evolution Soccer 2016 (other countries) Various (including Japan) 15 September 2015 Xbox 360, PS3 Xbox One, PS4 Windows Pro Evolution Soccer 2017 Winning Eleven 2017 (Japan)Pro Evolution Soccer 2017 (other countries) Various (including Japan) 13 September 2016 Xbox 360, PS3 Xbox One, PS4 Windows Pro Evolution Soccer 2018 Winning Eleven 2018 (Japan)Pro Evolution Soccer 2018 (other countries) Various (including Japan) 12 September 2017 Xbox 360, PS3 Xbox One, PS4 Windows Android, Apple iOSPro Evolution Soccer 2019 Winning Eleven 2019 (Japan)Pro Evolution Soccer 2019 (other countries) Various (including Japan) 28 August 2018 Xbox One, PS4 Windows Android, Apple iOSeFootball PES 2020eFootball Winning Eleven 2020 (Japan)eFootball PES 2020 (other countries) Various (including Japan) 10 September 2019 Xbox One, PS4 Windows Android, Apple iOSeFootball PES 2021 Season UpdateeFootball Winning Eleven 2021 Season Update (Japan)eFootball PES 2021 Season Update (other countries) Various (including Japan) 15 September 2020 Xbox One, PS4 Windows Android, Apple iOS
Pro Evolution Soccer
Tagline: "We are the Football Tribe"
The first installment in the series of games was released in October 2001 for both PlayStation and PlayStation 2. It was released under the name in Japan. Commentary on the game was provided by Jon Briggs and Terry Butcher.
Pro Evolution Soccer 2
Tagline: "They Will Rock You"