Pro Evolution Soccer was not cancelled. It was renamed and rebuilt. On July 21, 2021, Konami announced eFootball, a free-to-play, digital-only game built in Unreal Engine for “the long-running franchise, previously known as Pro Evolution Soccer and Winning Eleven.” eFootball 2022 launched on consoles and PC on September 30, 2021, and Konami set the online services of eFootball PES 2021, the last game under the old name, to end on August 25, 2022. On April 9, 2026, Konami announced that eFootball had reached 1 billion cumulative downloads. The yearly boxed PES is gone. The series lives on as a free platform that Konami itself still calls the rebranding of “PES.”
What Happened to Pro Evolution Soccer: The Timeline
| Date | What happened | Source |
|---|---|---|
| July 21, 2021 | Konami announces eFootball, replacing the Pro Evolution Soccer and Winning Eleven names | Konami press release |
| September 2, 2021 | Konami confirms eFootball 2022 for September 30 and says PES 2021 mobile will update into it | Konami press release |
| September 30, 2021 | eFootball 2022 launches on PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X and S, Xbox One and PC | Konami press release |
| October 2021 | Konami publicly apologizes for the launch state of eFootball 2022 | Reported by Push Square, VGC and others |
| August 25, 2022 | Online services for eFootball PES 2021 end | Konami termination notice |
| April 9, 2026 | eFootball passes 1 billion cumulative downloads | Konami announcement |
What Konami Actually Announced in 2021
The July 21, 2021 press release, issued through Konami’s UK press agency and read September 11, 2026, described eFootball as “a fresh approach for the long-running franchise, previously known as Pro Evolution Soccer and Winning Eleven.” The main points:
- Free-to-play and digital-only, replacing a paid annual release.
- Rebuilt in Unreal Engine, which Konami said provided “many advances on and off the pitch.”
- Consoles and PC first, on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X and S, Xbox One, Windows 10 and Steam, with iOS and Android “to follow soon after.”
- Full cross-play support planned after launch, across console, PC and mobile.
Konami’s September 2, 2021 release, read the same day, added the launch date, September 30, and explained the naming: “eFootball 2022 is the official title for our first season of content.” It also said Unreal Engine made it possible to unify the experience across console, PC and mobile and to provide “true console-level gameplay on iOS and Android devices.”
That last sentence is the real reason PES ended. Konami was not only changing a name. It was folding a console series and a mobile series into one free game on one engine, with seasons instead of yearly sequels.
Why Konami Dropped the Pro Evolution Soccer Name
Konami’s own releases give the reasoning in business terms: one game, everywhere, free to start, funded by what players buy inside it. A yearly boxed soccer game has to sell a full price copy to every player, every year. A free platform only needs players to show up, and makes money from the ones who spend.
That model had already reshaped casual gaming on phones, the change we trace in what happened to Angry Birds. A PES that ran the same way on a phone and a PlayStation could reach far more people than a disc ever did.
The trade-off was the identity. PES had been a paid console series whose fans often praised how it played above its licenses and presentation. Turning it into a free service meant building for a much bigger and more casual audience first.
The Launch That Went Wrong
eFootball 2022 arrived with a small amount of content and visible problems. Within weeks, in October 2021, Konami issued a public apology on the game’s official channels, acknowledging reports of problems with player movement, facial expressions, cutscenes and the behavior of the ball, as well as feedback on game balance, and promising an update, as reported at the time by Push Square and VGC.
For a series whose reputation rested on how it played, this was the worst possible first impression. Loyal users do not always forgive a redesign that takes away what they came for, and few relaunches have tested that as publicly since Digg’s disastrous redesign.
What Happened to PES 2021 and the Older Games
The last game released under the old name was eFootball PES 2021 Season Update, as Konami titled it.
On mobile, it did not end. It became eFootball. Konami’s September 2, 2021 release said eFootball 2022 would arrive for existing PES 2021 mobile users “as an update to the existing app,” and that they would be able to carry over many in-game items.
On console and PC, its online services were switched off. Konami’s termination notice, posted on the PES 2021 official site, stated that online services for all versions of eFootball PES 2021 would be discontinued on August 25, 2022 at 02:00 UTC, and that remaining myClub coins and GP would be invalidated at the same time and could not be carried over to eFootball. That official PES 2021 site now forwards visitors to the eFootball site.
This is how soccer games age in general. EA’s own online services list, read September 11, 2026, shows FIFA 23’s online services ending on October 30, 2025. Annual sports games are built to be replaced, and their online modes go with them.
Can you still play PES? Konami’s notice concerned online services and the myClub currencies. Online features of the old games should be treated as gone. What remains is whatever each game could do entirely offline.
“PES Was Better”: What Fans Mean
The complaint heard most often from PES players is not really about graphics or licenses. It is about feel: the pace of a match, the weight of a pass, and a career mode that could absorb a season of evenings. That mode was Master League, and it is the clearest sign that Konami knows what it gave up.
When Konami announced the 1 billion download milestone on April 9, 2026, read September 11, 2026, it celebrated with a limited-time event called “Master League Sprint,” which it described as “inspired by the beloved ‘Master League’ from the Pro Evolution series.” The same announcement called eFootball “the rebranding of KONAMI’s popular gaming series ‘PES’.”
That is a notable change of tone. In 2021 Konami was burying the old name. By 2026 it is using PES nostalgia to market the free platform that replaced it. A series can lose its crowd to a rival the way MySpace lost its to Facebook. Konami’s bet is the reverse: bring the old crowd into a free game with the one mode they missed most.
eFootball in 2026
The numbers Konami publishes are downloads, not active players, and the difference matters. A download is counted once, whether or not the player comes back. With that caveat, Konami’s April 9, 2026 announcement said eFootball had reached 1 billion cumulative downloads worldwide, across PlayStation 5 and 4, Xbox Series X and S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch 2, Nintendo Switch, iOS, Android and PC.
The platform list alone shows how far the series has moved. PES was a console game. eFootball is a phone game that also runs on consoles, including both Nintendo systems. The eFootball site was posting live service notices in September 2026, so the game is still actively run.
What it is not, and may never be again, is a new boxed PES every autumn.
FAQ
Is Pro Evolution Soccer still made?
Not under that name. Konami replaced Pro Evolution Soccer with eFootball, announced on July 21, 2021. Konami still describes eFootball as the rebranding of its PES series.
Is eFootball the same as PES?
It is the same series from the same publisher, but a different kind of game. eFootball is free-to-play, digital-only and built in Unreal Engine, with seasonal updates instead of yearly paid releases, and it runs on consoles, PC and mobile.
When did PES 2021 servers shut down?
Konami’s notice set the end of online services for all versions of eFootball PES 2021 for August 25, 2022, at 02:00 UTC. Remaining myClub coins and GP were invalidated at the same time. Mobile players had already been moved to eFootball through an app update.
Is eFootball free?
Yes. Konami describes it as a free-to-play football simulation, with core updates delivered at no cost and optional in-game purchases.
The Short Version
- July 21, 2021: Konami replaces Pro Evolution Soccer and Winning Eleven with eFootball.
- September 30, 2021: eFootball 2022 launches, free-to-play, on Unreal Engine.
- October 2021: Konami apologizes for the launch state.
- August 25, 2022: eFootball PES 2021 online services end.
- April 9, 2026: 1 billion cumulative downloads, marked with a Master League event.
- PES is not dead, it is free. The yearly boxed game is what ended.
