For a long time now, Konami’s Pro Evolution Soccer series has been under the shadow of FIFA series from Electronic Arts. While EA has been racking up billions only from Ultimate Team game mode alone, PES has been struggling to reach those numbers in comparison.
However, things have been changing a bit for Konami in recent years with PES becoming more popular among fans. Last year, Konami decided to re-brand its soccer franchise from PES to eFootball PES. Also, instead of releasing a new game last year, they decided to launch an expansion (Season Update) for PES 2020 and probably take a break from the yearly cycle.
That break seems to be working great for the developer/publisher as now, for PlayStation 5 and most probably for Xbox Series as well, PES developer is looking to aim for “photorealistic” results.
Now if you are thinking that it might be too much for Konami considering their current graphics in PES 2021 and Fox Engine then know that PES 2022 will be using Unreal engine rather than the old Fox Engine. Series producer, Seitaro Kimura had this to say to Play Magazine while being interviewed:
I think it is important to be able to experience the excitement and sense of accomplishment that football has, in the game,” says Kimura when we ask what a PS5 ‘next-gen’ football game needs to offer. “Not to mention being able to play games in photorealism…” he teases.
He further added:
The ‘photorealism’ we aim for is exactly the reproduction of the real world itself.
While it’s confirmed that PES 2022 will be using Unreal Engine, we aren’t sure if it will be Unreal Engine 4 or Unreal Engine 5. If it’s UE5, fans should definitely be excited as we have already seen what UE5 can do for Photorealism.
For now, the game hasn’t been officially shown to us and we are waiting for the first look. If you are waiting too then keep in mind that Konami isn’t attending E3 2021 so it might be a while since we see the game in action.
Some fans are even thinking that the game might be delayed this year. Delayed or not, one thing is for sure, if eFootball PES 2022 is successful in delivering what the developers are claiming, it will be a major plus for the franchise and it could see many new players coming to the franchise from FIFA as many players are frustrated from EA and they want an equal substitute to fulfill their soccer gaming needs.