“We are hoping to really finalise a way of fighting licences. What I mean by that is that this is just a new path that we are trying to take. I think it's very difficult in a way to make sure that we are doing things that make a lot of sense. The partnerships seem like a good idea now, a good idea to show the world, to show the fans, but also show the football teams, the clubs, the leagues that this is what we can do for your team, we can put them on the map.”
合作伙伴可以用来向全世界、粉丝、球队、联赛展示PES可以为他们做什么！
Many teams and leagues are currently signed into multi-year exclusive deals, meaning PES won’t even have the chance to speak to them for quite a while. But knowing that gives the PES team some time to plan what they want to do when the chance to speak to the clubs rolls around.
很多球队签订了数年的独家协议，K社有一段时间不能接触他们1
There are other factors involved with trying to secure licenses, too. It isn’t just a case of waiting for contracts to expire and then asking to be part of the new deal; there is a lot of money involved, and you know how money talks.
另外一个因素就是钱！
“Listen I love PES, I love working on PES, but I can tell you something,” says Bhatti. “Even though we are all really passionate about the game, this is a business. If Konami saw a loss at all on PES I would not be here at Gamescom next year. If you start to splash multi millions on licences, suddenly PES is a risk because you have to sell a lot more copies.”
When it comes down to it, licenses aren't what make or break a football game. If the action on the pitch isn't up to scratch then no one will buy it, but right now PES is at a stage where its gameplay is close to perfect. This gives the team an opportunity to focus on other areas to improve, and bringing in official licenses always helps in that department.
“I think we need to give the users much more choice, we need to improve the presentation of PES, we need to really make you feel like you are playing a real match, with all the sounds and visuals,” explains Bhatti. “I really think we can improve that now with these new partnerships, we can really work with the clubs and understand things like the stadium sounds and atmosphere better than before.”
Sales are ultimately the end goal for any game. More sales means more money for the company, which should in turn mean more of a budget for the next year’s game. A handful of licenses probably don't have too much of a direct impact on sales, but once PES starts to get a solid group of official teams involved the optic should become noticeable, providing they keep the same quality gameplay.
With PES 2017 set to have some of the best football gameplay we have ever seen and some of the biggest licences in the world, the battle for football game supremacy is once again heating up. The next few years should be some of the most interesting yet in the age old war between FIFA and PES, especially now that PES can stand up in the licensing department.