Konami has announced a deal with one of the biggest names in soccer for it’s upcoming eFootball PES 2020 (the new name of Pro Evolution Soccer). The publisher has entered a long-term partnership with Manchester United beginning with PES 2020. The deal allows Konami to use MUFC’s players past and present in-game, as well as the iconic Old Trafford stadium. No Man Red or Trad Brick stadium necessary; players can finally get the real deal.
The exact length of the deal is unknown, but the use of “long-term” specifically suggest we could see this in effect for some time. This deal gives Konami “substantial access” to players from throughout MUFC’s history. Legends like David Beckham, who left Manchester in 2003, will be playable as part of the team. Konami has utilized a special 3D scanning technology that allows players to be rendered more realistically than ever before.
The deal gives Konami access to much more than Manchester’s roster, however. PES 2020 will also include “the most faithful recreation” of the legendary Old Trafford stadium in a video game so far. MUFC fans will surely get a lot out of analyzing every detail of this virtual stadium to see just how accurate it is.
The Manchester United deal comes at a time as Konami struggles to secure licensing in the wake of fellow soccer franchise FIFA pulling every license it can. In prior games, Konami had to work with what essentially amounted to bootleg versions of Manchester United, with the team being known as Man Red and Old Trafford being replaced with Trad Brick. Konami recently extended its partnership with Arsenal F.C., as well.
eFootball PES 2020 will release on September 10, 2019 (September 12th in Japan) for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. If you want to get your PES fix now, PES 2019 is available now as a free download for all PlayStation Plus members. Actually, scratch that.
