Pro Evolution Soccer

Pro Evolution Soccer (PES; Wārudo Sakkā Uining Irebun, World Soccer: Winning Eleven or simply Winning Eleven), is a series of soccer video games developed and published by Konami. It's a spinoff from Konami's earlier International Superstar Soccer series.

Every year, the game is released around late September and/or early October with two different titles: World Soccer: Winning Eleven in Japan & Asia, and Pro Evolution Soccer in Europe, North America & Asia (Indonesia only). The Japanese version is a localized version that features local leagues. Partially as a result of EA Sports' affinity to purchasing exclusive rights for their FIFA series, the games have historically lacked the sheer volume of licenses present in EA's offerings, with the most notable absences being the Premier League and Bundesliga. As such, team jerseys, names, and players may be inaccurate.

Cristiano Ronaldo was the face of the franchise, appearing on the front cover in 2008, 2012 and 2013. He has since been replaced by Mario Götze for 2015, then he was replaced by Neymar and Álvaro Morata for 2016.

As of December 2011, the Pro Evolution Soccer franchise has been localized into 19 languages and available in 62 countries. As of December 2012, the series have been sold more than 81.65 million copies worldwide, making it one of the best-selling video game franchises.

Game modes and features
The Master League mode, gives the user control of a team of user's selection. Originally, the players were all generic-fictional players, however this was later changed giving the user the option to change the settings and choose to play with default players. These players have become cult figures to many people playing the Master League. The aim is to use these players and gain points by winning matches, cups and leagues. Using acquired points to purchase real players to join the team. Ultimately, one should end up with a team of skilled players.
 * Master league

From Winning Eleven 7, players' growth and decline curves were added, where a player's statistics may improve or decline, depending on training and age. This added a new depth to purchasing players, adding value to an up-and-coming youngster whose abilities rise dramatically and creating a trade-off if the player buys skilled but declining veterans.

Fans of the series often make "option files" and "patches" which modify all player names into those of their real life counterparts, as well as including transfers from the latest transfer window and, occasionally, altered stats of more obscure players whose in-game attributes do not precisely replicate their real life skills.
 * Editing

"PES Stats Database" and "PES Stats" are examples of websites that are dedicated to creating accurate stats for players. These are distributed via the internet in digital format, then transferred to the PlayStation 2 memory card using hardware such as the Max Drive. More experienced gamers often use "patches", editing the actual game code and modifying the graphical content to include accurate kits for unlicensed teams, new stadiums, and footballs from Nike, Inc., Puma, Umbro and Mitre, as well as more Adidas balls. Most patches also contain licensed referee kits from FIFA and the official logos of the various European leagues. These patches are technically a breach of copyright, and are often sold illegally in territories in the Middle East and Asia. Konami have become less tolerant of this kind of fan editing in recent years, and now encrypt the data pertaining to kits and player statistics in each new release. However, fan communities invariably find ways to crack this encryption, and patches still appear once this has been achieved.

Since Pro Evolution Soccer 6 onwards, there has been a separate league with 18 generic teams (Team A, Team B, Team C etc.) present, which can be edited fully. This is thought to be due to the fact that Konami failed to get the rights to the German Bundesliga, and is usually made into the Bundesliga or another league of one's preference by patch makers. However, most people use this to put their edited players into playable teams from the start instead of having to play through Master League to purchase them or alternatively edit the existing non-generic teams. This feature does not appear in the Wii version of the game (but, as stated above, the non-generic teams can be edited anyway).

Goal Storm / ISS Pro series
Pro Evolution Soccer series traces its roots to Goal Storm (also known as World Soccer Winning Eleven in Japan). The game was developed by Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo, Inc. and was released in 1996. The original Winning Eleven game, without the World Soccer prefix, was released only in Japan for the PlayStation in 1995, and featured only the teams that played on J. League Division 1.

The following three games in the series were also produced by Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo and they were released under the name of ISS Pro for the European market and Winning Eleven for the rest of the world.

Pro Evolution Soccer
The 1st installment in the series of Pro Evolution Soccer games was released in October 2001 for both Sony PlayStation and PlayStation 2. It was released under the name World Soccer: Winning Eleven 5 in Japan and North America.

Pro Evolution Soccer 2
Pro Evolution Soccer 2 (World Soccer: Winning Eleven 6 in Japan and World Soccer Winning Eleven 6 International in the US) is the 2nd installment and was released in October 2002 and some felt that it was a slight backwards step from the original Pro Evolution Soccer. Others argued that it had improved. The pace of gameplay was much faster than in the game's older sibling, with sharper turns and quicker reactions to tackles. It also included a training session mode. Extra clubs were added, with an extra Master League division. There were two new commentators, Peter Brackley and Trevor Brooking, but this aspect of the game was criticised for the commentators' inaccuracies and tendency to speak over each other. The licensing was much the same, but infamously all Dutch players were called ‘Oranges’, because Konami did not hold the rights from the Royal Dutch Football Association, for use from Dutch players (in fact, plenty of other football games of the period with FIFPro licenses also saw this happen to them - including FIFA 2002 -, following Netherlands' unsuccessful campaign at the 2002 World Cup qualifiers). Also, unlike in the original game, the "unofficial" club names stopped using obvious city names (e.g. Manchester United was Manchester, Real Madrid was Madrid etc.), and instead used very ambiguous names (e.g. Manchester United were now Aragon, Liverpool became Europort and West Ham became Lake District). The edit mode included a club editor which offset this problem to some extent, with editable kits and logos as well as club and player names. The game notably included tracks from Queen: We Will Rock You and We are the Champions. A PlayStation version (known as World Soccer Winning Eleven 2002 in Japan) was also released, which was again a minor update of its predecessor, and was the last Pro Evolution Soccer release for the original PlayStation.

Pro Evolution Soccer 3
Pro Evolution Soccer 3 (World Soccer: Winning Eleven 7 in Japan and World Soccer Winning Eleven 7 International in the US) is the 3rd installment in the series and was released in 2003, and featured the Italian referee Pierluigi Collina on the cover (although bizarrely he is not present as an in-game referee). The most significant update was the overhaul in the graphics engine, with more life like players and much improved likeness. The gameplay was changed to accompany this, with more fast-paced action than that of PES2, a much better physics engine, additions such as the advantage rule improved passing and long-ball functions, while as per usual, more licenses (with the infamous Dutch Oranges removed, replaced with pseudonyms such as "Froibaad" in the place of Kluivert), more club teams and the Master League is now split into regional divisions, with competitions equivalent to the Champions League and the UEFA Cup and as Umbro was no longer revived, the company has been replaced by Adidas.

Pro Evolution Soccer 3 is the first in the series (3rd overall) to be released for Microsoft Windows and was well received by the PC games magazines but criticized by fans for its lack of online mode and bloated system requirements at its time, particularly not supporting the common Geforce MX series. Its rival, FIFA Football 2004, had online functions and had more modest system requirements in comparison. The game was essentially a direct conversion of the PlayStation 2 code, albeit with sharper graphics and is easier to download fan made mods for the game.

Pro Evolution Soccer 4
Pro Evolution Soccer 4 (World Soccer: Winning Eleven 8 in Japan and World Soccer Winning Eleven 8 International in the US) was the 4th installment in the series and was released in 2004; featuring referee Pierluigi Collina, Thierry Henry and Francesco Totti on the cover. This is the first Pro Evolution Soccer game to feature full leagues, namely the English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, and Dutch top divisions, though with full league licenses only for the latter three. As a result, clubs in, for example, the English League, an unlicensed league, have ambiguous names like "West London Blue" and "Man Red" for Chelsea and Manchester United respectively, and their home grounds Stamford Bridge and Old Trafford are respectively named "Blue Bridge" and "Trad Brick Stadium".

The gameplay has improved from Pro Evolution Soccer 3 (though not as much of a significant leap as its predecessor) with improved AI, tweaked play-on advantages and better throughballs. Dribbling is tighter with the players (though at one-star difficulty, a player receiving the ball on either wing can dribble the ball down the length of the pitch relatively uncontested), plus free-kicks have been changed to allow lay-offs. The gameplay was criticized for its relatively easy scoring opportunities, as players can pass their way through opposing defenses, or hold on to the ball at the edge of the penalty area and simply wait for the opposing defenders to move away and thus give him space to shoot. A new 6-star difficulty was added as an unlockable in the shop, as well as the previous items, while the Master League included enhancements such as player development, so many players over 30 would see certain attributes decline as the game progresses. Conversely, players could improve upon their attributes up to the age of 24-25, though the improvement is most rapid and obvious in players aged 22 and under.

The edit mode has been enhanced rapidly, with the options to add text and logos to shirts (essentially sponsors) and pixel logo editing as well as the traditional preset shapes, thus making it easier to replicate a team. The game also includes an "International Cup" and four regional Cups:


 * The "European Cup" is remarkably inclusive, including almost every major European country, as well as smaller countries like Slovenia, Hungary, and Slovakia. However, countries like Israel and Iceland are not included. The Czech Republic team is simply called "Czech".
 * The "American Championship" is a merger of the CONCACAF Gold Cup and the Copa América. It includes most North, Central and South American countries.
 * The "Asia-Oceania Cup" includes only five Asian countries, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Iran, China, and South Korea, plus Australia. Ironically, in real life, Australia has joined the Asian Football Confederation, and now the defending champion of AFC Asian Cup. South Korea is simply called "Korea". Adidas templates are used in Edit Kit in Edit mode

Pro Evolution Soccer 5
Pro Evolution Soccer 5 (known as World Soccer: Winning Eleven 9 in North America and Japan) the 5th installment in the series, was released in October 2005 and featured John Terry and Thierry Henry on the cover. The improvements are mainly tweaks to the gameplay engine, while online play finally made it to the PlayStation 2 version. The game was perceived as much harder by fans, with a very punishing defense AI making it harder to score. Some players have pointed out inconsistencies in the star difficulty rating, such as 3 star mode being harder to beat than 6 star due to its more defensive nature, but in general scoring is harder. Referees are very fussy over decisions, awarding free kicks for very negligible challenges. There are various new club licenses present, including Arsenal, Chelsea, Celtic, Rangers and a few other European clubs, as well as the full Dutch, Spanish and Italian Leagues. Pro Evolution Soccer 5 featured empty stadiums during play, since crowd animations on the PS2 version slowed down the framerate to an unplayable level in the testing phase, although crowds are present during cut-scenes. There are however fan-made patches which address this in the PC version, although no official patch was released. Official PlayStation 2 Magazine UK gave it a perfect 10/10 score.

Pro Evolution Soccer 5, was released for Xbox, Windows and PS2, all online enabled. A PSP version was released, but with stripped down features, such as no Master League, no commentary, only one stadium and limitations in the editor, due to the limitations to the UMD. The PSP version featured Wi-fi play, and the gameplay was faster and more “pin-ball like” in comparison to its console siblings, but it did not receive the same acclaim as the mainstream console/PC versions.

Pro Evolution Soccer 6
Pro Evolution Soccer 6 (World Soccer: Winning Eleven 10 in Japan and Winning Eleven: Pro Evolution Soccer 2007 in the US) is the 6th installment in the series and was officially released in the UK on October 27, 2006 for the PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, Xbox 360 and PC platforms and on February 9, 2007 for the Nintendo DS. The PC version does not utilize the Xbox 360 engine but is a conversion of the PS2 edition. The PSP version is similar in many ways to its PS2 brother, while the DS version has graphics and gameplay reminiscent of the older PES series on the original PlayStation.

A criticism of the previous version was that the game was too unforgiving and so suppressed fluid attacking football. Pro Evolution Soccer 6 was issued with more tricks and an overall more attacking mentality, but whether it does make it easier to take on defenders and get forward is debatable.

More licenses were added, including fully licensed international kits including the nations England, Spain and Italy to name a few (as well as the ever present Japan license). The French Ligue 1 is now included as fully licensed league, as well as the Spanish, Italian and Dutch leagues, plus several other individual clubs. However, the Chelsea F.C. license from PES5 was removed and, due to a lawsuit, Konami were forced to drop the Bundesliga license. The only Bundesliga team to appear in the game is Bayern Munich. The game had not updated Arsenal's venue to the Emirates stadium; the defunct Highbury is still present. The same applies for Bayern Munich, who, despite having moved to the Allianz Arena, are still represented in the game as playing at Munich's Olympic Stadium. Also, the recent extensions to Old Trafford are not included, while Serbia and Montenegro are still present despite the dissolution of the country in May 2006, this being due to the disestablished state competing at the 2006 World Cup. All teams which competed at the World Cup featured their 23-man squads from the tournament, including those who retired from international football (e.g. Phillip Cocu of the Netherlands) and from the game altogether (e.g. Zinedine Zidane of France), although club teams were fairly up to date.

The Xbox 360 version features next-generation, hi-definition graphics and more animations, but gameplay similar to the other console versions, according to a recent interview with Seabass. The Xbox 360 version also finally introduces the Pro Evolution series to widescreen gaming, a feature that was sorely missing from the PS2 and Xbox versions of the game. Much of the gameplay and editing options were severely stripped down for the 360 release.

Pro Evolution Soccer 2008
Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 (Known as World Soccer: Winning Eleven 2008) is the 7th installment in the series. The game cover features Portugal and Manchester United player Cristiano Ronaldo and a local player (Michael Owen in the UK, Didier Drogba in France, Jan Schlaudraff in Germany, Gianluigi Buffon in Italy and Lucas Neill in Australia. A new adaptive AI system entitled 'Teamvision' was implemented into the game, Teamvision is a sophisticated AI programming that learns and adapts according to an individual's style of play. As such, it will learn new ways to build attacks and to counter specific movements and previous attacking or defensive errors, ensuring games are more in line with the tactical but flowing nature of the real thing. The game was released for PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PlayStation 2 on October 26, 2007 in Europe, November 2, 2007 in Australia, and December 31, 2007 in Japan. The PlayStation Portable and Nintendo DS version were released in November, and the rather different Wii version. Pro Evo Wii was released in March 2008. It was the first game in the series to drop the Winning Eleven name from its title in the US. The English commentary provided by Jon Champion and Mark Lawrenson for the first time.

20 teams are also in the D1 and D2 Leagues, four more than in past editions.

The game's 'in-game editor' however was a large downgrade from previous versions, with players unable to add text to unlicensed team shirts or base copy specific players. On the PS3 the game was a huge disappointment with lots of frame rate issues and strange glitches.

Pro Evolution Soccer 2009
Pro Evolution Soccer 2009 (known as World Soccer: Winning Eleven 2009 is the 8th installment in the series. Released on the 17th of October in Europe, featuring FC Barcelona Argentine star Lionel Messi as its cover star (opposite Mexican midfielder Andrés Guardado from Deportivo La Coruña in some versions).

While in some respects keeping the same structure of its predecessor, PES 2009 makes a large number of improvements, starting from the graphics, now better suited for HD image technologies. Also, the overall pace of the gameplay was slowed down, with a better AI for computer-controlled teammates as well: they will look for better passing spaces and goal routes.

A new addition of this game is the Become a Legend mode, which follows the entire career of a single player (as opposed to a whole team, like in the Master League) as he moves to better teams, achieves national team caps and wins MVP awards, like the similar mode called Fantasista in J-League Winning Eleven 2007 Club Championship, a special edition only for Japan. This also inspired theBe a Pro mode introduced in FIFA 08.

Interestingly enough, this game has sponsored Lazio once in real life (during a match against Inter Milan), but the team's in-game kit does not feature the PES 2009 sponsorship.

This was also the first version to include the UEFA Champions League license.

Pro Evolution Soccer 2010
Pro Evolution Soccer 2010 (known as World Soccer: Winning Eleven 2010) is the 9th installment in the series. The game has gone through a complete overhaul as it tries to compete with the FIFA series. PES 2010 has improved animations and 360-degree control was introduced, available on the PC, PS3, and Xbox 360 versions of the game via the analog sticks on the respective controllers. PS3 owners benefited from this when using the DualShock’s D-Pad, but the Wii D-Pad is limited to eight-directional control and the Xbox 360 D-Pad to sixteen-directional control due to their hardwares. The A.I. was improved thanks to Teamvision 2.0. The referees were reworked to make better calls during matches. It also features more licensed teams and players than ever before. The cover features players Fernando Torres and Lionel Messi.

In addition to the added UEFA Champions League license, the UEFA Europa League license was also added, both playable in the Master League.

Pro Evolution Soccer 2011
Pro Evolution Soccer 2011 (known as World Soccer: Winning Eleven 2011) is the 10th installment in the series. PES 2011 is a football video game developed and published by Konami with production assistance from the Blue Sky Team. The UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League feature in the game; and for the first time CONMEBOL's Copa Libertadores and UEFA Super Cup are fully licensed.

Pro Evolution Soccer 2012
Pro Evolution Soccer 2012 (known as World Soccer: Winning Eleven 2012) is the 11th installment of the series. Both Jon Champion and Jim Beglin remain as commentators. Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo who was the first time in the cover art of Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 replaced Lionel Messi as the cover star.

Pro Evolution Soccer 2013
Pro Evolution Soccer 2013 (known as World Soccer: Winning Eleven 2013) is the 12th installment of the series. The gameplay improves the AI as well as giving the player the ability to accurately aim passes and shots. Real Madrid player Cristiano Ronaldo is featured for the front cover. For the first time of the series, all 20 teams from the Brazilian National League, Campeonato Brasileiro Serie A, are included in the game series. The UEFA Champions League and the Copa Santander Libertadores is once again appeared in the game.

Pro Evolution Soccer 2014
Pro Evolution Soccer 2014, officially abbreviated to PES 2014, also known in Asia as World Soccer: Winning Eleven 2014 is the 13th installment in the series, developed and published by Konami. The game features a modified version of the new Fox Engine. It was released on September 19, 2013, in Europe, September 20 in United Kingdom, September 24 in North America and on November 14 in Japan. This game also become the last game with PlayStation 2 and PlayStation Portable.

Pro Evolution Soccer 2015
Tagline: "The Pitch is Ours"

Pro Evolution Soccer 2015, officially abbreviated as PES 2015 and also known in Asia as World Soccer: Winning Eleven 2015, is the 14th installment in the series. The cover art Features FC Bayern Munich player Mario Gotze. For the first time in the series' history (excluding the regional versions which included the J & K-Leagues 1 and 2), the game featured unlicensed secondary leagues.

Pro Evolution Soccer 2016
Tagline: "Love the Past, Play the Future"

Pro Evolution Soccer 2016, officially abbreviated as PES 2016 and also known in Asia as World Soccer: Winning Eleven 2016, is the 15th installment in the series. It is also the game to be released during the series' 20th anniversary. The cover of the game features Brazilian team and FC Barcelona player Neymar. It was released on September 15, 2015, in North America, September 17 in Europe, September 18 in United Kingdom, and on October 1 in Japan. English commentary Peter Drury provided for the first time with Jim Beglin.

Pro Evolution Soccer 2017
Tagline: "Control Reality"

Pro Evolution Soccer 2017 (officially abbreviated as PES 2017, also known in Japan as Winning Eleven 2017) is the 16th installment in the series. On May 25, Pro Evolution Soccer 2017 was announced and scheduled to be released on PC, Xbox 360, Xbox One, PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4. The cover of the game features FC Barcelona players, including Neymar, Lionel Messi, Luis Suárez, Ivan Rakitic and Gerard Pique. On 26 July 2016, Konami Digital Entertainment officially announced a premium partnership with FC Barcelona allowing “extensive” access to the Camp Nou stadium, which will be exclusive to the game for three years. Features includes, among others, improved passing, Real Touch ball control, and improved goal tending technique.

Other titles

 * Arcade
 * Winning Eleven Arcade Game Style
 * Winning Eleven Arcade Game Style 2003
 * Winning Eleven 2006 Arcade Championship
 * Winning Eleven Arcade Championship 2008
 * Winning Eleven Arcade Championship 2010
 * Winning Eleven Arcade Championship 2012
 * Winning Eleven Arcade Championship 2014


 * Game Boy Advance
 * Winning Eleven Advance (2001)
 * J-League Winning Eleven Advance 2002 (2002)


 * PlayStation
 * ESPN MLS GameNight
 * ESPN MLS ExtraTime 2002
 * International Superstar Soccer Pro (ISS Pro)
 * International Superstar Soccer Pro 98 (ISS Pro 98)
 * Winning Eleven 3: Final Ver.
 * ISS Pro Evolution (ISS Pro Evolution)
 * ISS Pro Evolution 2 (ISS Pro Evolution 2)
 * Winning Eleven 2002
 * World Soccer Winning Eleven


 * Nintendo 3DS
 * Pro Evolution Soccer 2011 3D


 * Windows MMO
 * Winning Eleven Online
 * Winning Eleven Online 2014

J-League Winning Eleven series
The J-League Winning Eleven series is exclusive to Japan and has been released since 1995 with the release of J-League Jikkyou Winning Eleven.