Konami quietly launches a PES 2022 demo Eurogamer.net If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy. Konami quietly launches a PES 2022 demo And here's gameplay. News by Wesley Yin-Poole Deputy Editorial Director Updated on 24 Jun 2021 47 comments Konami has quietly launched a demo for PES 2022. The brilliantly-named 'New Football Game Online Performance Test' is available to download now on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X and S. You don't need PlayStation Plus or Xbox Live Gold. The demo kicked off at midnight just gone, and runs until midnight on 8th July. The video below includes gameplay of a full online match I played this morning between Manchester United and Bayern Munich. Spoilers: there are a few goals! Watch on YouTube Konami did not announce this demo, which is odd. There is no mention of it on PES' official social media channels, either. In a note to Eurogamer issued this morning, Konami said this demo is only a limited test version of the next PES, and its purpose is to check the quality of online matchmaking and connection to servers. All aspects of the game, including gameplay mechanics, balancing, animations and graphics are all under development, Konami stressed, and have already been improved and will continue to be improved before the official launch. Konami warned players to expect errors, such as crashes. It's worth noting this demo is built in Unreal Engine. As Konami announced last year, it decided to switch game engines to Unreal for PES 2022 on next-gen. The demo only has a limited number of teams available to play (Manchester United, Bayern Munich, Juventus and Barcelona), each with a squad of 22 players. There's cross-gen play between PS4 and PS5, and between Xbox One and Xbox Series X and S. Don't expect to carry over data from the test to the official launch version. I can report a few headline changes. Dash is now on R2 instead of R1 - as it is in FIFA - and L2 when defending makes the selected player press. (Konami has uploaded the new controls to its website.) The visuals didn't blow me away, the game plays very slow, and there's no commentary. There is stadium PA dialogue, though. Hilariously, at the end of my match the PA announced a father had lost their son. Yikes! It's a curious launch! It's all pretty rough, and the game doesn't even have the PES 2022 name in it. If Konami was hoping to avoid attention while getting the testing it needs done, well, that was never going to happen. Become a Eurogamer subscriber and get your first month for £1 Get your first month for £1 (normally £3.99) when you buy a Standard Eurogamer subscription. Enjoy ad-free browsing, merch discounts, our monthly letter from the editor, and show your support with a supporter-exclusive comment flair! Support us View supporter archive More News Google announces cloud gaming Chromebooks less than a fortnight after Stadia shutdown GeForce Now preinstalled. 3 Atari will hold RollerCoaster Tycoon rights for another decade Ups and downs. 7 Lady Dimitrescu will be a tad smaller in Resident Evil Village's Mercenaries DLC Level the playing field. 1 Overwatch 2 suffers another DDoS attack and character roster bugs Mei Mei. 13 Latest Articles Digital Foundry Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090: a new level in graphics performance The Digital Foundry video review - and how the new GPU champion delivers for 4K 120fps gaming. Google announces cloud gaming Chromebooks less than a fortnight after Stadia shutdown GeForce Now preinstalled. 3 Feature Evercore Heroes wants to wind people up the right way "There's less rage at them, because they didn't end your fun." Genshin Impact Path of Gleaming Jade dates, login event rewards Including other anniversary rewards and how to claim them. Supporters Only Premium only Off Topic: Take a minute to appreciate Cookin' with Coolio's incredible scallops recipe. What a great book. Premium only Off Topic: Reading City of Glass in comic form "Where exactly am I going?" Premium only Off Topic: Il Buco is a transporting film about a really big hole Underlands. Off-Topic Netflix handled Sandman brilliantly It was Dreamy. 9 Buy things with globes on them And other lovely Eurogamer merch in our official store! Explore our store