Next Gen consoles will arrive later this year, but what will Konami produce?
PES 2020's fightback with licensing has narrowed the gap between Konami and EA, and we can't wait to see what happens this year.
Latest News - Cover Stars Announced
Four massive stars have been revealed as the cover stars for PES 2021 Season Update.
SUPERSTARS! Two greats and two future greats will be on the cover of PES 2021 Season Update
Joining the great Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are two young stars, Marcus Rashford and Champions League winner Alphonso Davies.
Season Update Release Date
The PES 2021 Season Update will arrive on 15 September.
It also has a low price of £24.99 for the Standard Edition, with the team versions costing £29.99.
Sao Paulo
Sao Paulo have been revealed as an official partner of PES 2021.
This means that the Morumbi (Estadio Cicero Pompeu de Toledo) will definitely be on PES 2021.
Read more about Sao Paulo here.
Could Roma be arriving to PES 2021?
Konami already has the rights to the Stadio Olimpico, but could they have secured the exclusive rights to the team too?
EA have announced that Roma FC will replace the Italian club on FIFA 21, just as Piemonte Calcio replaced Juventus.
Read more about Roma FC here.
Next Gen on the horizon
The power of the PS5 and Xbox Series X will shape the industry.
Any PES fan will tell you, the gameplay is the biggest influencer of experience. Whilst they might not have liked a lack of licences, they have dealt with it.
HOME IS WHERE THE HEART IS: The textures in PES 2020 were gorgeous
But something changed in PES 2020, and now Konami has a bit between their teeth to deliver top tier gameplay and licences.
With the new consoles, comes impressive graphics power and a heightened sense of realism. Whilst not something that jumps to mind immediately, the stadiums in-game actually make a massive difference to an immersive experience.
Playing in the Allianz Arena, complete with underground players entrance, with thousands of Bayern Munich fans beating drums and cheering genuinely does get you going for a game of PES.
It's not make-or-break, but these little touches add up to making a complete game. Konami knows that, and they are doing their best to improve on this for PES 2021.
Current Stadiums
In PES 2020 there are no less than 31 officially licenced stadiums that can be recognized globally. Some of the best-known stadiums include the Nou Camp, Allianz Arena, Allianz Stadiun and Old Trafford.
There are another 19 stadiums that Konami has created to act as generic stadiums that are closely matched to what else might be available all around the world.
JEWEL ON THE CROWN - The exclusive rights to Juventus gave PES 2020 their Allianz Stadium
Given the direction of Konami and the lack of negative noise about licences, we would fully expect nearly all of these stadiums to remain in PES 2021 in a licensed capacity.
READ MORE: Everything you need to know about PES 2021
PES 2020 Licenced Stadiums List
Stadiums in bold are exclusive to PES 2020.
- Allianz Arena (Bayern Munich)
- Allianz Parque (Palmeiras)
- Allianz Stadium (Juventus)
- Arena Corinthians (Corinthians)
- Camp Nou (Barcelona)
- Celtic Park (Celtic)
- De Kuip (Feyenoord)
- El Monumental (River Plate)
COMMON GOAL - The renewal of Konam's deal with Barcelona kept the Nou Camp on PES 2020
- Emirates Stadiums (Arsenal)
- Estadio Alberto / La Bombonera (Boca Juniors)
- Estadio Alejandro Villanueva (Alianza Lima)
- Estadio Beira-Rio (Internacional)
- Estadio Cicero Pompeu de Toledo (Sao Paulo)
- Estadio do Maracana (Flamengo & Fluminense)
- Estadio Jose Alvalade (Sporting CP)
READ MORE: PES 2020 Data Pack 6.0 RELEASED – Player faces, Iconic Moments, New kits & more
- Estadio Mineirao (Atletico Mineiro)
- Estadio Monumental de Colo-Colo (Colo-Colo)
- Estadio Nacional de Chile (Universidad De Chile)
- Estadio Palestra Italia (Palmeiras Classic Stadium)
- Estadio Sao Januario (Vasco da Gama)
- Estadio Urbano Caldeira (Santos)
- Giuseppe Meazza / San Siro (Internazionale & Milan)
- Ibrox Stadium (Rangers)
CULTURE - Rangers Ibrox Stadium was exclusive to PES 2020
- Johan Cruyff ArenA (Ajax)
- Old Trafford (Manchester United)
- Saitama Stadium 2002 (Urawa Red Diamonds)
- St. Jakob-Park (Basel)
- Stade Louis II (AS Monaco)
- Stadio Olimpico (Lazio & Roma)
- Sukru Saracoglu Stadium (Fenerbahce)
- Veltins-Arena (Schalke 04)
Potential Additions
There have not been any confirmations of new additions to the licensing as of yet, but that hasn't stopped the likes of FIFPlay holding a vote for which stadiums we want to see added.
Currently, the leaders of the poll are Vodafone Arena (Besiktas, Turkey) and Elland Road (Leeds, England).
BEAUTIFUL: The stadiums helped to sell PES 2020, expect the same again
The Vodafone Arena, home to Besiktas, should be straight forward as the Turkish Spor Toto Super Lig is licensed.
Elland Road offers an interesting challenge, as Leeds United are top of the Championship and looking to get promoted.
READ MORE: PES 2020 Euro 2020 DLC Update
If the league is cancelled they may not go up to the Premier League and therefore a slightly less high-profile choice of license.
If Konami were putting together a wishlist of stadiums, it would be hard not to imagine that the Wanda Metropolitano Stadium (Atletico Madrid, Spain) wouldn't be on it.
It is the home of Atletico, a team that could represent the rivalry between Konami and EA Sports with their relationship with Real Madrid well documented.
Next Gen
With the current global situation, and its effects well documented in relation to delaying releases, PES fans could start to worry
There may be a chance that the delay in physical football leagues could influence Konami's decision on when to release. However with no official announcements it's still hard to predict.
We've seen some very powerful specs being released for the Xbox Series X, but haven't heard quite as much on the PS5 as of yet, aside from the release of their DualSense Controller.
LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL: Could we see a delay in PES 21?
It will be interesting to see how Konami will utilise the power of next gen both in terms of graphics and gameplay with PES 21.
We predict that the stadiums themselves have the potential to be rendered in such a way we've never seen them before!
We'll have to wait for the demo to find out!