Konami delays official eFootball launch until spring 2022

Konami has delayed the official launch of eFootball, scoring an own goal in its bid to revitalize the Pro Evolution Soccer franchise after over two decades.

Back in July, Konami outlined plans to rebrand PES as a digital-only, freemium soccer sim called eFootball and said it would turn the rejuvenated series into a full-fledged "platform."

Those plans have since gone awry. After a rocky early rollout saw the company offer access to an extremely limited number of teams and modes while debuting an all-new game engine -- which featured more than a few bugs -- Konami has now decided to push eFootball's official v1.0.0. launch back until spring 2022. That version had previously been slated to release on November 11, 2021.

Konami has also postponed the mobile version of the title until spring 2022, and will be automatically refunding a premium player pack (which had been available for pre-order) that would have unlocked more players via a controversial "chance deal" system.

In a post on the eFootball website, Konami said it moved to delay the launch so it can add more polish and deliver a product that will "meet the expectations of our users."

"We have been working diligently towards distributing an update that will bring new content to the game, including a new mode where you can strengthen and play with an original team, as well as support for mobile devices on November 11, 2021," said the company.

"Unfortunately, we have concluded that more time is needed to deliver the product in the quality that will meet the expectations of our users and have decided to postpone the delivery. Also, we have decided to cancel the pre-order for eFootball 2022 Premium Player Pack, which includes items that can only be used in-game after the update."

Konami finished with a pledge to "fix numerous bugs sequentially on each platform starting today," and said it would announce a roadmap for the now-delayed mobile version at a later date.