Konami explains why it’s rebranded PES

Konami has explained its decision to rebrand the long-running Pro Evolution Soccer series with this year’s instalment, eFootball PES 2020.

According to European brand manager Lennart Bobzien, the product refresh was designed to highlight the publisher’s growing focus on the esports market.

“We simply thought that by including it in the product naming, we’re making a statement and showing our community of fans, but also the wider audience, that esports will play a very big part moving forward,” he told GameSpot.

Additionally, the publisher hopes the new product name will benefit the series in Europe.

“Talking about Pro Evolution Soccer–in Europe, it was always a tricky one, and when we discussed this repositioning we thought, let’s call it football, it’s a European market [so] we want to have football,” Bobzien said.

“We still keep PES in the product name since we feel that’s still part of the heritage and we want to keep it in there. Therefore, the combination will be eFootball: PES.”

Konami will launch an eFootball PES 2020 demo on July 30 for PS4, Xbox One and PC. It will feature access to the game’s online and edit modes, plus 14 playable teams including Barcelona, Arsenal and Boca Juniors.

The eFootball PES 2020 release date is September 10, 2019.