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- Konami Digitial Entertainment B.V. has formed a new amateur tournament under the eFootball banner called eFootball.Open.
- eFootball.Open will serve as a replacement for the PES League as Konami “takes bigger steps toward esports.”
- Both eFootball.Pro and eFootball.Open tournaments will begin by the end of 2019, offering a combined prize pool of over $2M USD.
Konami Digital Entertainment B.V. has formed a new esports tournament for its upcoming soccer game, eFootball PES 2020. eFootball.Pro, which began in December of 2018, will continue with a new season along with an amateur tournament called eFootball.Open.
“Various competitions” under the eFootball banner are planned, according to Konami, including, but not limited to eFootball.Pro and eFootball.Open—both operating within the overarching eFootball competition structure and providing a total prize pool of over $2M.
“With eFootball PES 2020, we made the bold decision to reposition our brand and take bigger steps towards esports,” Jonas Lygaard, senior director of brand & business development at Konami Digital Entertainment B.V. said in a release, adding that the company is taking steps to “elevate the sport” and allow as many people of different skill levels to participate.
eFootball PES 2020 will feature a new online Matchday mode that will “play a key role” in identifying participants in eFootball.Open, the company said. Players will be divided into Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced tiers, with top-tier users proceeding to Regional and World Finals.
eFootball.Open replaces PES League and will feature 1v1 matches between players. Amateur players will have access to the same schedule and clubs as those competing in the professional eFootball.Pro, Konami added.
Local eFootball tournaments will be held in Asia, South America, and Europe in co-operation with soccer associations such as eJLEAGUE and TOYOTA Thai League. Further details on tournament structure and player selection process will be announced in the near future, Konami said, revealing only that both tournaments will start by the end of 2019.
The eFootball.Pro tournament is exclusive to professional soccer clubs from Europe, each selecting at least three esports players to compete in 3v3 co-op matches throughout the season.
As of November 2018, six teams were competing: FC Nantes, Barcelona, Schalke 04, AS Monaco, Celtic FC, and Boavista FC. This year’s participating clubs, locations , and dates will be announced at a later date.
Konami will continue its partnership with Esports Media Rights (EMR), the esports company founded by Spanish soccer pro Gerard Piqué, for both eFootball.Pro and eFootball.Open tournaments.
