December 10 – German Champions FC Bayern Munich are the latest club to enter Konami’s eFootball.Pro League, joining other newcomer Manchester United for the second season of the esports competition that begins December 14.
This is the first time Bayern have entered the esports space with a branded club team, having so far not entered the 22-team VBL Club Championship (virtual Bundesliga) that is in its second season.
The eFootball.Pro League played its first season with six teams but its expansion to 10 with the big name additions of Arsenal, Bayern, Juventus and Man Utd take the branding proposition to a new level for the league and Konami.
Bayern have signed Austria’s Matthias Luttenberger as coach and Spanish trio Miguel Mestre Oltra, Alejandro Alguacil Segura and Jose Carlos Sánchez Guillén (pictured) as players for their newly formed team.
All 10 clubs will compete in 3v3 matches played on Konami’s eFootball PES 2020, with the first match day confirmed for Saturday 14 December in Barcelona, Spain.
There will be a nine match days between December and April 10. Each match will be made of two games, and each game will award three points for a win and one for a draw. The top six clubs of the league will progress to the Knockout Stage to be played in May.
Jonas Lygaard, Senior Director Brand & Business Development at Konami Digital Entertainment B.V commented, “This is an incredibly exciting moment for the future of esports and eFootball more specifically. To secure the participation of 10 of the world’s most well-known football clubs is a testament to the quality of eFootball PES 2020 and its ability to connect clubs to their fans in new and dynamic ways. With authentic squads and professional players, eFootball.Pro will be one to watch.”
As well as competing in the league the players will also play for their clubs in Konami’s newly launched eFootball.Open. This tournament opens up the game to all players, dividing them into Basic, Intermediate and Expert levels depending on their ratings in the Online Divisions. Players choose a team to play for on entry. Matches will be played every two weeks with only players at the Expert level having the opportunity to progress to the prize money available at regional and then World finals.
To incentivise players eFootballPro is making it possible to win in-game items for the club that they choose in eFootball.Open when playing Matchday. The eFootball Season Program will introduce myClub Coins, Gold and Black Ball Agents and other digital incentives depending on points earned during Matchday. Club-specific items, for a player’s chosen eFootball.Open club, will also be available via a lottery.
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