The PES successor “eFootball” has launched cross-platform but is facing harsh criticism. On Steam, the game currently occupies a particularly notorious place. Konami has now commented on the strong backlash to the game.
Update, October 1st, 4:30 PM: In a tweet from the eFootball channel, the developers at Konami have now responded to the massive criticism.
They have acknowledged the feedback following the release: “We have received a lot of feedback and requests regarding game balance, including passing speed and defensive behavior,” say the developers: “We also want to address that there have been reports of issues with cutscenes, facial expressions, player movements, and ball behavior.”
They apologize for the issues, take the concerns very seriously, and want to improve the current situation.
This is how Konami wants to improve the game: “This work will be continuously updated, the quality will be improved, and the content will be constantly supplemented,” say Konami: “Starting next week, we will prepare for an update in October while also obtaining further opinions through questionnaires from our users.”
Here continues the original article.
What is happening with eFootball? “eFootball” launched on September 30th, 2021, in version 0.9, which is expected to be supplemented with further content later. However, the version that is now available to play is not well received at all.
PES fans have expressed their anger about the new game, which does not meet the hopes of the community after two years of development. Everything from gameplay to missing content and the game’s visuals is being criticized.
Among other things, eFootball features clumsy movements, curious facial expressions of the players, and strange actions in gameplay.
This is the story behind PES: For years, the cult game Pro Evolution Soccer was the main competitor to the FIFA series, and players highlighted the realistic gameplay of the series. However, the disadvantage of the series was the large licensing package that allowed FIFA to bring real clubs and players onto the virtual pitch.
In this respect, PES has traditionally lagged behind and offered only a fraction of real players and clubs. There were some attacks in this regard, but PES could never fully catch up. As a result, PES lost some ground against FIFA in terms of competition.
In the summer of 2020, however, PES announced that it wanted to start fresh. A very well-received trailer featuring Messi and the Unreal Engine was released, under the motto: “Taking PES to a Whole New Level.” We show it to you again here:
So they took extra two years to completely rebuild PES from the ground up. The result is now the released “eFootball” – which, however, has not yet fulfilled the expectations raised by the teaser.
This now seems to have consequences. On Steam, the game has been rated with devastating reviews.
eFootball at the bottom of Steam
This is the situation at Steam: According to the Steam ranking site “Steam250”, eFootball is currently the worst game on Steam. It is now rated as “extremely negative” (with currently 10,884 reviews).
Only 9% of the reviews are positive at all. Thus, eFootball ranks at the bottom of the popularity scale on Steam (via Steam250).
This title was previously held by “Flatout 3: Chaos & Destruction,” which was released on Steam in 2011 and was criticized among other things for poor controls, visuals, and bizarre sound. It still has 15% positive reviews.
Following it are:
- the indie game “Uriel’s Chasm,” which only achieved 17% (but also only has 268 reviews)
- and “Command & Conquer 4: Tiberian Wars” (18% with 2,800 reviews), which is criticized for severe gameplay errors.
Overall, the feedback on eFootball is extremely negative.
This is how the internet reacts: Even when browsing overarching communities like Twitter or the gaming subreddit, the game is being criticized consistently.
On social media, players are sharing screenshots and videos that illustrate the tough position the game is likely to be in in the coming weeks. Images like these (from user TheRealKalle) are circulating online:
On reddit, players are reminded of Dragon Age. The post currently has 13,000 upvotes:
Also, Twitch streamer Kurt shared his displeasure about the new game. Kurt is mainly known from the FIFA series, but he has had multiple conflicts with EA.
However, he is also not impressed by this new game from Konami. In a tweet, he criticizes that they took extra time for a revamp, only to come up with this result:
In total, eFootball is likely to have a lot of work ahead in the coming weeks if it wants to turn the criticism of the first release around.
According to the roadmap, further modes such as online leagues and a team-building mode are expected in the coming weeks and months, as well as the comprehensive unlocking of cross-play across all platforms. However, the initial criticism of the game goes deeper than just the absence of modes.
In terms of virtual football, FIFA 22 and eFootball will not be the only options. “UFL” also wants to enter the football game market and offer a “fair alternative.”
