A football video game is a type of video game that is inspired by football. It can be an action game where you control the footballers or a management game where you play as the coach of a team.
The first football video games were released in the early 1970s. In 1973, Soccer! on the Odyssey console, created by Tomohiro Nishikado, the creator of Space Invaders
The 1980s mark an evolution of the genre, football games come out by the dozen, but most have little interest and are inspired by each other.
It was in 1985 that Tehkan World Cup, an arcade video game, will stand out, this one displays a mini-map with the position of the twenty-two players on the field in real time. And especially in 1988 that appears the famous Kick Off.
The 1990s saw the appearance of 16-bit consoles, the costs of developing games increased, and the companies capable of producing a stand-out football game began to dwindle.
But it is above all the appearance of two future large licenses that will make their debut on this generation. On the one hand, Electronic Arts manages to make an agreement with the International Federation of Association Football to produce its first game in 1993, FIFA International Soccer. On the other hand, Konami with its game International Superstar Soccer relies on the strength of the graphics and its gameplay.
It was with the arrival of the PlayStation 2 that the duel between FIFA and ISS PRO, now renamed Pro Evolution Soccer, will begin. For its part, the ISS series can no longer evolve, and facing its counterpart PES, this one will see its end with ISS 3, Konami will now concentrate all its resources on its flagship series in order to be able to compete with FIFA.
From Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 (released in 2007), the PES series operates profound changes and disorients itself from its realistic side which made the success of the series
Taking advantage of the lack of novelties, its competitor, Konami, decided for PES 2017 to change its team and renew its brand by relying on a British team7, with the aim of offering the ultimate football simulation. PES 2018 and PES 2019 each offer major advancements in gameplay, while its competitor offers little new, focusing on its FUT game mode, celebration animations and stadium atmosphere. For the 2020 edition, Konami decides to change the name of the game to eFootball PES2020 and integrates an official online competition called eFootball League replacing the PES League