‘PES 2020’ release date: Upcoming version will be a ‘massive jump forward,’ brand manager says

There are only two weeks before “PES 2020” hit the shelves, and Konami is ramping up its efforts in marketing the title. For months now, Konami made a lot of moves to secure exclusivity rights that usually favors EA.

Juventus and Atletico River Plate will be exclusive to “PES 2020,” forcing EA to rename the team as Piemonte Calcio and Nunez FC respectively. What’s more, Konami has also secured an exclusive partnership with UEFA, which will make “PES 2020” the official game for UEFA 2020 tournament.

Konami recently said that all these efforts are to ensure that fans get the most of the upcoming version, providing them with as much immersion as possible. European ‘PES’ brand manager Lennart Bonzein even said that the improvements they’ve done to the game have been quite vast, Real Sport reported.

PES 2020 may be Konami’s apology for the 2019 version

“The gameplay itself, you feel a difference. Not only because of the camera angle but the action on the pitch feels different to 2019, that just as an overall package I would say ‘PES 2020’ has made a massive jump forward,” Bonzein said.

The 2019 version has been met with a lot of criticism ranging from server issues to the broken gameplay that frustrated a lot of players. “PES 2020” is Konami’s apology for disappointing the gaming community and it appears that they’ve really made an effort to correct their mistake. Indeed, Bonzein even said that most of the improvements seen in the upcoming version stem from the criticism and feedback they’ve got from the 2019 entry.

PES 2020 and FIFA still going at it

For EA’s part, it’s also trying to claw at the competition, announcing that they’ve secured the rights for the Romanian Liga 1. Of course, putting Konami and EA’s efforts side by side, it’s clear that the former is the victor. But as much as others would love for “PES 2020” to dethrone “FIFA,” that wouldn’t be happening.

Sure, Konami should be proud of what they’ve accomplished with “PES 2020,” but its features and exclusive rights won’t be enough to warrant it the title of “FIFA” killer. But if the company continues on this path in the future, there’s no doubt that it will one day knock “FIFA” off its pedestal. Until then, Konami still has a lot of work ahead of it. “PES 2020” is slated to hit the shelves on Sept. 10, while “FIFA 2020” will arrive on Sept. 24.