eFootball launched today and suffice to say, those who have already had a chance to get to grips with the game are less than impressed.
Konami revealed plans that some thought would shake up the football sim world for the first time, well, ever when it announced its plans for eFootball earlier this year. A free-to-play replacement for the long-running Pro Evo which came close to challenging FIFA for its football game crown once upon a time.
Even though eFootball is free, any hopes that it will be nipping at FIFA's heels appear to have fallen flat just hours after it launched. Social media is quickly filling up with video clips and screenshots that are painting eFootball in a pretty poor light. Kind of like the days that followed the launch of WWE 2K20 except this time it didn't cost players any money, and there's a viable alternative in the form of FIFA 22 arriving tomorrow.
One of the biggest takeaways from the game so far is what Lionel Messi looks like. The tweet above compares what the Argentine superstar looks like in the new FIFA to what is a rather scary-looking eFootball version of Messi on the right. You might argue that FIFA's Messi is obviously going to look better. It has the power of EA behind it and is an established brand. However, Konami scanned Messi's face and body for eFootball. EA did not have that privilege for FIFA 22.
Similar screenshots of Cristiano Ronaldo have been posted online, and some rather amusing video clips have already made their way onto Reddit. One shows a completely flat referee swimming through the grass. Another appears to show a clip of one player dragging another up the pitch in fast forward before the referee, not the flat one, blows their whistle and calls for the foul.
All of the above has led to eFootball quickly becoming the worst-rated game ever on Steam. Right now, only 8% of players to have rated the game have given it a positive review. That's a full seven percentage points lower than the next worst game according to Steam users. A terrible start to life for eFootball, and one that will hopefully be improved upon via its promised updates.