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eFootball 2022 has just launched, and immediately dropped to the lowest-rated game in Steam history.
At time of writing, Konami's latest take on the series formerly known as Pro Evolution Soccer or PES boasts an 'overwhelmingly negative' rating on Steam, with only 9% of its 4,300 reviews recommending the game. That's significantly lower than the next lowest game, 2011's Flatout 3: Chaos & Destruction, for which 15% of the reviews are positive (via VGC).
It's worth noting that all of these player reviews have appeared mere hours after release, so might not be entirely reflective of the game's quality. That said, with no scores available on Metacritic at time of writing, these are some of the only opinions that potential customers will have to go on. Multiple players liken the title to a mobile game, while others complain that the title is lacking features and clubs, and that its player and ball physics are wrong.
Please tell me this is fake? #eFootball2022 pic.twitter.com/CiPDzwAqSuSeptember 30, 2021
The title is also getting lambasted on social media due to hilarious bugs and terrifying player likenesses. Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo both look like unfortunate caricatures of their true selves, while other players have noted flattened referees, Naruto-running strikers, and some horrific arm injuries.
eFootball is, admittedly, a free-to-play title that Konami says it'll be updating over time. That should make it easier to make improvements in the long-term than it might have been for a full release. That's unlikely, however, to impress PES fans who have been waiting two years for this game and its new engine. A launch this flawed is also likely to do some significant damage to Konami's monetisation plans, which the now-free eFootball series will rely on to survive without game sales.
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