Konami is finally releasing the full version of eFootball on April 14, with a new patch set to fix bugs and add new features many have been waiting for since last year.
Patch 1.0 promises to turn the game from what Konami said was “basically a demo” into the fully-fledged first version of its new soccer series.
Announced in a blog post on the eFootball website, the development team said it had been working hard to “regain the trust” of players and had taken on feedback to fix bugs, improve online play, and add new gameplay mechanics.
We are pleased to announce that the update (version 1.0.0) for eFootball™ 2022 will be released on 14th April 2022.
— eFootball (@play_eFootball) April 6, 2022
One of the major additions comes in the Dream Team mode, previously branded as Creative Team, which allows players to combine a mixture of their own players and real-life soccer stars to form a, well, ultimate team.
Several changes to eFootball’s gameplay will also be made. Konami promised that defending has been made more intuitive overall, and it’s also added commands for a shoulder charge, call for pressure, and a one-on-one match up option (essentially the L2 button in FIFA).
Passing has also been reworked, the AI should now make smarter decisions when receiving and passing the ball, and Konami has added a “stunning pass” command for some added finesse.
Changes have also been made to shooting, with Konami adding a variety of shot styles to suit different situations, and dribbling has also been overhauled to be more responsive.
On a team level, new game plan options have been added allowing players to change formations, alter player roles, employ tactics, and so on.
Finally, Konami has adopted a client-server system to improve online connectivity, but said these changes are just the tip of the iceberg in terms of the overall fixes brought with patch 1.0.
This version of eFootball was originally expected to launch on November 10 but became the latest problem in a pretty disastrous launch.
In IGN’s 3/10 review in progress, we said: “Launching as essentially a demo with very limited modes, stuttering gameplay, laughable crowd models, and more than a few bugs and glitches, it’s very hard to recommend eFootball in its current form.” We’ll be updating that review after 1.0 arrives.
Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer who occasionally remembers to tweet @thelastdinsdale. He’ll talk about The Witcher all day.