Konami Digital Entertainment’s PES 2017 will be featuring a specific eSports mode. This will allow players to face off head to head in the official PES eSports league, PESLeague.
All the previous PES games made it rather difficult for players to compete in online leagues for the game. Players would have to find out each other’s contact information via a website and organize their own private match. Players will be able to load up the PESLeague and play in an eSports league.
Jonas Lygaard, Senior Director of Brand and Business Development at Konami said, “later this year we will be integrating the hugely popular PES League element as a dedicated mode within PES 2017 and future iterations, allowing organised competitions to become easily accessible to absolutely anyone owning a PES title.”
Konami really wants to make their name in the eSports industry. They are making strides to build something that is not already there. “As the PES series continues to go from strength to strength, we are exploring a number of ways to build its reputation within the eSports sector,” Lygaard says.
This is actually a huge deal, maybe bigger than most people would think. With the rising popularity of eSports, Konami is looking to jump into uncharted waters. Companies are not yet putting dedicated eSports modes into their games. Halo 3 was the first to have a Major League Gaming playlist for matchmaking, and maybe the last. This mode was not close to the caliber that Konami is creating. The professional league for PES will be available to anyone with the game. The price point for this league is what is especially important; the cost of the game. This is the type of accessibility that could take eSports to a place it has not yet been.
PES 2017 will be releasing on September 15 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and also Microsoft Windows.
