Konami: eFootball, the new esports competition for the PES series

Konami announced eFootball.Open, a brand new esports tournament for eFootball PES 2020. eFootball.Pro will also be returning, and the two will exist simultaneously in the overarching eFootball competition structure.

Konami will be hosting competitions under the eFootball banner, including, but not limited to eFootball.Pro and eFootball.Open. eFootball.Pro is the returning tournament format for professional football clubs that achieved great success last year. eFootball.Open is catered more to regular or casual players. Over US$2M will be the total prize pool across eFootball, with more significant prizes available for eFootball.Pro.

With eFootball becoming larger scale, Konami will once again partner with Esports Media Rights (ERM) for the company’s esports initiatives. EMR is founded by Spanish footballer Gerard Piqué, and will be supporting both eFootball.Pro and eFootball.Open.

eFootball.Pro will be for professional, real world football clubs from Europe, each club fielding at least three esports players to compete in 3V3 co-op matches throughout the season. Clubs will select their own players, largely chosen from last season’s professional players, and participants of the PES League Regional and World Finals. Fully authentic club line-ups with balanced stats will be used specifically for tournament play. Participating clubs for eFootball.Pro with locations and dates will be announced soon.

eFootball.Open replaces the PES League. Matches will be 1v1 exclusively, where players select a club on entering and competing with others who chose the same club. Schedule and clubs available for Open are the same as Pro.

Matchday mode in eFootball PES 2020 will be key in identifying participants for Open. Three classes – Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced – will be available for increased accessibility. Top tier users will progress to the Regional and World Finals.

Joint sponsorship competitions with football associations like “eJLeague” or “Toyota E-League” will be held in Asia, South America and Europe as well, as local tournaments. Further tournament structure and player selection details will be announced soon. Both tournaments begin end 2019.

Jonas Lygaard, senior Director – Brand & Business Development at Konami Digital Entertainment B.V. had this to say:

“With eFootball PES 2020, we made the bold decision to reposition our brand and
take bigger steps towards esports. eFootball is a clear example of the steps that we are taking to
elevate the sport and allow as many users as possible, casual or professional, to get involved.
Following an exciting start, we’re thrilled to see eFootball.Pro back for another season with substantial
changes and additions to be unveiled soon.

Learn more about eFootball PES 2020 on its website and Facebook. Play the game on Playstation 4, Xbox One and PC Steam 10 September (Americas/Europe/Asia) / 12 September (Japan). Preorders are open for Standard and Legendary Editions.

eFootball PES 2020

Publisher: Konami

Developer: Konami

Release Date: 2019-09-10

PlayStation 4, Steam, Xbox One

The next entry into the PES football series. It will see a new game mode (Matchday), various improvements and better graphics than ever before.

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