Several weeks ago, Konami ended speculation over the next move in its storied Winning Eleven/Pro Evolution Soccer franchise with the unveiling of the latest installment in the football sim series. However, long-time fans who were hoping for a total overhaul and a vast improvement on PES 2020, which was released back in September 2019 to mixed reviews, were disappointed.
The announcement revealed that Konami is dropping the Pro Evolution Soccer Brand completely and will instead focus all its energies on a new eFootball brand, representing its switch to a completely free-to-play model. The days of Ximelez, Castolo and the other default PES Master League players are but a distant memory – these offline game modes will not be included in eFootball, which will feature online leagues and a team-building mode only.
It’s also been rumoured that FIFA will switch to a free-to-play model for its 2023 version. These major sports titles are following the incredible success of other free-to-play games supported by microtransactions such as Fortnite Battle Royale. Microtransactions have for years been a key feature of the FIFA and PES experience in the Ultimate Team and myClub modes respectively, so it’s not such a leap of faith to expect lots of current players to transition to the new model.
Developers and publishers are surely also looking at the dramatic increase in the popularity of esports as an avenue to further market their top titles. FIFA is already on the right track, with a number of top professional football clubs now hiring and retaining professional esports rosters to represent them virtually in global FIFA tournaments.
Other sports sims aside from soccer are also building up a head of steam in the esports space. Madden, for example, is making forays with its Madden Championship Series offering a total prize pool of $1,750,000 across four separate 2022 season tournaments. The shifting of fans’ interest from real life action to the esports equivalent – from the pitch to Twitch, if you like – also has ramifications for the wider sports industry, including sports betting. FIFA tournaments are already heavily wagered on and many NFL betting sites offer markets on the Madden Championship Series and other similar events.
The most obvious advantage to the free-to-play model is that financial barriers to entry are reduced as fans no longer need to stump up a large wedge of cash just to access the game in the first place. Microtransactions are of course designed in a way that makes the game more enjoyable when you do spend money, but it’s still significant that this spend is optional.
One of the big downsides for long-time fans of sports sims like FIFA, PES, and Madden is that free-to-play, cross-platform games are increasingly designed with the mobile user in mind. That means that the quality of the experience for console players is potentially degraded in favour of on-the-go gaming. This is something that will obviously put off lots of legacy users, but developers and publishers clearly see mobile gaming – which arguably lends itself best to the free-to-play model – as a format with huge potential for the future.