It's almost here, eFootball 2022 arrives in just a few days.
The franchise formerly known as Pro Evolution Soccer was not a hit with Xbox players due to the inability of an Option FIle, but the new brand being free this year, that could all change.
Release week & Pre-order info
eFootball will arrive on Thursday, 30 September, but note, this will be a very basic version of the game.
More updates will arrive throughout the autumn and winter months to bring the game up to speed, with DLC also becoming available for offline modes like Master League.
A pre-order bundle is available for around £30 which includes plenty of online extras - but you won't be able to use it until November.
It does pose the question what sort of game we will get at launch, but given it is free - it's for sure worth testing it out.
Cross-gen & Cross-play confirmed
The big news for Xbox One players is that from launch, cross-gen is supported, you can take on player on Series X|S.
A few weeks later cross-generation will arrive, enabling you to take on PlayStation and Steam player - with mobile play arriving in the winter.
eFootball Trailer
We've already seen a sneak peek at a PES 2022 trailer, with this one arriving at the same time as the PES 2021 trailer last year.
Expect a fully-fledged announcement trailer to arrive at E3 this summer, which is scheduled for 12-15 June.
Unreal Engine
eFootball brings is the arrival of Unreal Engine - providing best-in-class graphics capabilities.
It's still unclear as to whether this will be Unreal Engine 4 or the all-new Unreal Engine 5, but with UE5 not arriving until "late 2021" for its first year, expect PES 2022 to be on UE4.
Unreal Engine will bring enhancements to both Current and Next Gen consoles, so don't worry about upgrading to Series X or S to receive an improvement in graphics.
Option File
Now - this is likely to be the sticking point for Xbox players.
Option Files allow you to download all the "official" unlicensed kits from the community, but with Xbox consoles not supporting downloads from a USB device - you won't be able to get them on Xbox One or Series X|S.
If you want an Option File, you'll need to be playing on PS4, PS5 or PC.
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