You probably know the soccer game by Konami under the name eFootball PES 2020. But the rise of one of the most popular soccer games in the world has a long history. From the “dualism” of the names Winning Eleven and Pro Evolution Soccer to its rivalry with another soccer game, FIFA.

These two games were developed by Konami, but many people may be confused. What is Winning Eleven? Or Pro Evolution Soccer (PES)?To answer the question about the difference between Winning Eleven and Winning Eleven, let’s start with the early history of these soccer games.

International Superstar Soccer 

It’s not Winning Eleven or Pro Evolution Soccer. Konami released the first soccer game in Japan in 1994 under the name International Superstar Soccer (ISS). Although it was the first game, no one expected that ISS would attract the attention of soccer fans not only in Japan but also around the world.

The reason this game was easily accepted by the market was because of the features it offered. Its interesting features include Open Game (friendly matches against players or the CPU), International Cup (simulation of a World Cup game with 32 teams), World Series (league matches), and Training (training mode to practice soccer skills). After the huge success of its debut title,
, Konami released a second series in 1995 for the Nintendo 64 and PlayStation entitled International Superstar Soccer Deluxe/World Soccer Winning Eleven. ISS Deluxe featured smoother animations and a greater variety of formations available. Unfortunately, due to licensing issues, players could only play with the renamed World Players.

Available for PlayStation

A year later, Konami International released Superstar Soccer 64, known in Japan as Jikkyo World Soccer. That same year, International Superstar Pro or Winning Eleven 97 was also released exclusively for the PlayStation console, making it the first ISS series to debut on Sony’s console.

Winning Eleven 97 offers more comprehensive features, including 32 international teams, four new stadiums, 13 different lineups, and a penalty mode.

Over the next few years, Konami released the ISS series under various names. ISS Pro 98 or World Soccer Live Winning Eleven 3 ~World Cup France 1998~ (1998), ISS Pro Evolution or World Soccer Live Winning Eleven 4 (1999) and ISS Pro Evolution 2 or World Soccer Live Winning Eleven 2000: U-23 Heno Chosen Medal (2000).

The Appearance of Pro Evolution Soccer (PES) Series

In 2001, Konami released a sequel to ISS for the PlayStation 2 console, named “Pro Evolution Soccer” in the European version and “Winning Eleven 5” in the Asian and North American versions.

From now on, these two Konami games will be available in slightly different versions. The development of the Winning Eleven game was taken over by Konami Computer Entertainment Osaka (KCEO) and Winning Eleven was taken over by Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo (KCET).

In 2002, the latest series of Winning Eleven and PES were released. It can be said that these two Konami games have been very successful in their respective markets. PES has been successfully competing with FIFA games in Europe, and Winning Eleven dominates in Asian soccer games, including Indonesia, known for its high PlayStation rentals.

Konami then released the PES series for the European region, and continued to release Winning Eleven for the Asian region, especially Japan.

Until Konami finally released the game this year under the name eFootball Winning Eleven 2020 for Japan and eFootball Pro Evolution Soccer 2020 for overseas markets.

In Indonesia itself, the Winning Eleven series is very dominant. However, due to the declining popularity of the PlayStation 1 console, the PES series has been slow to gain acceptance among gamers until now.

The Differences between PES and Winning Eleven

Although these games are made by the same game developer, there are some slight differences between Winning Eleven and PES. For example, in the Winning Eleven version, you can choose between Mandarin and Japanese commentators.

As far as the gameplay itself is concerned, there is not much difference between Winning Eleven and Winning Eleven.