Konami Stealth launches an open beta for ‘a new soccer game’, allowing players to get an early look at what is presumably going to become PES 2022.
Despite years of staying fairly quiet, Konami has been gradually returning to the limelight as of late, introducing some new products for Silent Hill last week and unexpectedly announcing a multiplayer murder mystery game titled CrimeSight today. Alongside the reveal, the notorious Japanese publisher also sneakily released an open beta for a “new soccer game,” which will presumably become the latest entry in Konami’s long-running soccer series, PES 2022.
The first look at the upcoming addition to the PES franchise is available on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, or Xbox Series X, and can be found by searching for “New Football Game Online Performance Test” in Sony or Microsoft stores. . In a statement on its website, Konami clarifies that the test is not supposed to evoke the final product of PES 2022, noting that its graphics, gameplay, animations, and balance are still in development and will be improved in time for the game release. . launch. The beta itself will run from today until July 8.
For those wondering why the company has launched an open beta before finalizing the finalization of how the game looks and plays, the publisher claims that it is to “verify the quality of the matchmaking and online connection” so that the team can work on it before launch. Konami has confirmed that fans do not need PlayStation Plus or Xbox Live Gold to play, while there will be cross-generation multiplayer for both platforms.
As for what is included in the initial version of the game, players can select from four teams: Manchester United, Barcelona, Juventus and Bayern Munich. It’s worth noting that any progress made during this test segment will not carry over to the full game. It’s undeniably a strange way to showcase PES 2022, especially since Konami doesn’t mention the franchise name anywhere while talking about the beta.
Although PES is traditionally an annual franchise, PES 2021 broke tradition last year by not releasing a full game. Instead, it labeled its annual offering a “Season Update” and sold it at a reduced price, essentially offering a very PES 2020-like game with an updated team lineup and a few minor tweaks. The intention behind the decision was to fully commit to bringing PES to next-gen consoles later this year, and the team opted to switch from Fox Engine to Unreal Engine, so it will be interesting to see if the additional development time it was worth it. .
The PES 2022 Open Beta will conclude on July 8.