PES 2020: We sit down with the developers on how to take down FIFA 20

PES 2020 is on the horizon, with the demo coming very soon – on July 31st in fact.

It’s been a fantastic few weeks for the Konami title; renewing their partnership with Barcelona, adding Manchester United and Bayern Munich to their partner clubs before dropping an atomic bomb on both the football and gaming world – attaining exclusive rights for Juventus for PES 2020.

It came as a huge blow to FIFA 20, who lose the rights to the eight-time defending Serie A champions for the first time in 25 years, and as a result have had to do a PES in changing the name of Juve to Piemonte Calcio for the upcoming game.

Time to strike

It’s perfect timing for Pro Evo and Konami. Last year, FIFA 19 really struggled, with the game currently rated at 1.3 stars out of 5 on the Microsoft Store.

With Messi & co. on board, PES have a platform to take down FIFA 20PES, although struggling with licensing, has always been lauded for its realistic, yet arcadey, gameplay – with the game much more competitive back in the early 00s where cover stars included Thierry Henry, Francesco Totti, John Terry and Adriano.

The game has always had a nostalgic feel, and with FIFA failing to deliver, it is something that football purists crave.

Watch the PES 2020 official trailer

Going behind the scenes

RealSport were recently invited to PES 2020 events at Bayern Munich’s Allianz Arena and Juventus’ Allianz Stadium as the partner deals were announced for the clubs.

Bayern’s Allianz Arena will be exclusive to PES 2020In both instances we were given exclusive hands on access to the new game – and we believe that fans will be in for a treat, whether they are hardcore PES fans or are tempted to convert from FIFA.

We sat down with European PES Brand Manager Lenny Bobzien to talk us through all the developments surround eFootball PES 2020.

RealSport: What does it mean to bring Juventus on board to PES 2020?

Lenny Bobzien: “It’s amazing to have exclusive rights to Juventus on eFootball PES 2020.

“First of all having a partnership with Juventus is great but I think having the cherry on top of the cake is having the club exclusively, it’s just huge for us.

It’s the first time in 25 years Juventus will not appear on FIFA 20“It’s an amazing success but on the other side is a very big statement to our fans to show them that in terms of licensing we are really taking things seriously.

“We have had two other clubs sign deals with us in Manchester United and Bayern Munich, which are also amazing partnerships, but with Juventus now, having the exclusivity is amazing for us.”

RS: How much work has gone into the new game?

LB: “This year with eFootball PES 2020 – the name just shows the change we’ve put in this year. We repositioned ourselves and have added all those amazing partnerships to the game and even the presentation is a really big change for the PES series in general.

“The question may have been why we decided to do it now, and it was just the perfect timing with all the partnerships we wanted to have a fresh new start with the series.

“2020 has a nice ring to it, and I would say this year is one of the biggest changes for the game we have had for the past couple of seasons.”

RS: What changes are there in terms of gameplay?

LB: “For us in terms of gameplay, it was really important to take the next step in gameplay.

“We’ve worked very closely with Andres Iniesta, and he has helped the development team bring the game forward. He spent loads of time with our team and told them, look, in certain situations players should behave in this or that way, the ball should behave this way.

Barca legend Andres Iniesta helped develop the game“We introduced a complete new feature called finesse dribble, which is thanks to Iniesta.

“What you have seen in the exclusive demo is just a taster, and in the full game it will be even more accurate.

RS: What can we expect from the various game modes?

LB: “Starting with the online Matchday, I cannot say too much in detail about it.”

“So, Matchday is reflecting the real matchday calendar. Let’s say for example, you have Juventus versus Inter Milan at the weekend. The week before, starting on the Monday, this match will be featured in the game and you select which side you want to play for.”

“You then play with that team during the week, and pick up various points by securing victories and scoring goals. It’s not only you, but thousands of other players who are also representing a side, providing that community element.”

“At the end of the week you will first have the victorious team, and from both sides the best performing players will be picked to play against each other online, and if you haven’t been selected, you can tune in to watch and cheer for your side, with the winners receiving additional rewards to be redeemed in-game.

RS: And what about the revamped Master League career mode?

“As well as the new manager avatars and more realistic transfer system to Master League, we will see interactive cut scenes. You as a player can in certain situations make your own decisions. These choices will have an impact on your career and your Master League team.”

RS: Lastly, with Konami partnering with both Barcelona & Juventus – that heightens the battle between Lionel Messi & Cristiano Ronaldo to be the highest-rated player on the game. Who wins in PES 2020?

LB: “That’s a great question, and something I haven’t thought too much about!

“As you have seen, Cristiano Ronaldo is rated at 94 on PES 2020 but I cannot reveal what cover star Lionel Messi’s rating will be, so you will have to wait for the Demo!

Messi & Ronaldo will go toe-to-toe on PES 2020“Both are amazing players and it just depends on their match performances as we have our data team performing weekly updates. I think they are very close, so they can battle it out each week to come out on top.”

It’s transfer season

There you have it – with the demo so close and Konami still keeping a few tricks up their sleeves, the appetite is clearly growing for PES 2020.

The demo is out on July 31, and if you, like many, have become disillusioned with football games in recent years – then do yourself a favour and give the PES demo a go.

The PES 2020 demo will feature 13 clubs, online & an edit modeThe full game comes out a little before FIFA 20, on September 10 – giving us over a month to get to grips with demo, more than enough time to make a decision on whether to buy the full game.