UPDATE: eFootball is currently not announced to be coming for the Switch, for at least the near future. It could happen in the future, as the Switch could always get the mobile version of the game. Additionally, the Nintendo Switch has been proven to run Unreal Engine as numerous ports were created for the system with varying degrees of success.
There have been sparse options for good soccer/football titles on the Nintendo Switch in recent years. On Metacritic, FIFA 21: Legacy Edition is rated 33 for the Nintendo Switch, with critics and users bashing the game for playing a lazy reskin of an older title. On the PES side of things, Konami has opted not to release a competitor to EA Sports’s rendition of soccer this year.
Last year, Wesley Yin-Poole of Eurogamer interviewed the then PES Europe brand manager Lennart Bobzien. Bobzien has since left Konami.
I have a Switch at home. I love the Switch as a console. But I can comment about PES 2021, and this will be available on the current console generation, which means PS4, Xbox One, and PC via Steam. There will be no Switch version for this year.” Back then, Konami not only did not commit to an answer, and they outright denied the development of a Switch port. However, so far, Konami has been quiet about the next generation of eFootball PES making an appearance on the Switch.
Success with Unreal
Konami recently made the switch to Epic’s Unreal Engine to develop the very successful eFootball PES 2021 Mobile game. The game’s mobile version broke the 400 million player mark with this year’s iteration. Konami has already confirmed that the next-gen eFootball PES 2022 will run on Epic’s game engine and is confirmed to drop for PS5, Xbox Series X, and PC.
Unreal Engine on Switch
Epic’s marketing for Unreal Engine claims that UE is “One unified content pipeline” for all platforms. Since 2017, Unreal Engine supported directly launching developers’ games directly to Nintendo Switch. In fact, some of the most successful titles on the Switch were made using Unreal technology.
Whether the game’s success using Unreal Engine has anything to do with Konami’s decision is up in the air, however switching to Unreal Engine has opened the possibility of Konami releasing a native Nintendo Switch port of eFootball PES 2022. Konami has quiet so far.
eFootball PES 2022 is expected to drop around September 2021.
More info
Konami’s eFootball PES 2021 Season Update released September 15, 2020. This year’s game was essentially a roster update with a few additional enhancements. The game received a Metacritic score of 73.
You can get in on the action today by downloading eFootball PES 2021 Lite for the PS4, Xbox One, and PC.
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How can i get the game EFootball for xbox360 and nintendo switch