Celtic F.C. competed in the eFootball.Pro Invitational in August, and now it has decided to join the Pro Evolution Soccer competition as a founding club.
So far, Barcelona, Schalke 04, and AS Monaco have been announced as the other members of the international league.
Gerard Piqué, Founder and President of eFootball.Pro discussed the move: “It’s great news that Celtic joins our competition. I have faced them several times as a player and I know that they will show in eSports the same integrity they display on the pitch. Having a club with so much history will give us the necessary values to make our league a model in the sector.”
As part of joining the PES league, Celtic will recruit two players to represent the club through the year. AS Monaco became the third team to join the competition as a founding club in August, with more clubs poised to be announced in the near future.
Gordon Kaye, Head of Business Development of Celtic F.C. added: “Following our partnership with Konami, creating a PES team to challenge for the inaugural eFootball.Pro title is an exciting first step into the evolving world of eSports and we look forward to competing against top international teams.”
eFootball.Pro is a property of Esports Media Rights (EMR), which aims to professionalise football clubs’ entrance into esports by creating an international competition exclusively for them. The league is being run in partnership with KONAMI and spearheaded by Gerard Piqué.
Masami Saso, President of Konami Digital Entertainment also commented: “I am excited to see this unique esports competition continue to grow and take shape, especially with a club as formidable and iconic as Celtic. It is a privilege for KONAMI to work with organisations such as eFootball.Pro and Celtic, who continue to drive the sport forward and create new derbies to excite for years to come.”
In February of this year, Sportradar became the official international media rights distribution partner of eFootball.Pro. Sportradar will commercialise the live media rights for the league’s matches, as well as distributing matchday previews and analyses, highlights, news, interviews, and other content. It will also be in charge of production for all content, including the LAN matches.
Esports Insider says: PES is far behind FIFA in terms of popularity, both as a casual game and as an esport. That being said, the caliber of clubs joining eFootball.Pro is impressive – but it all means nothing if the game can’t provide a competitive and enjoyable experience. We’re intrigued to see how the league continues to differentiate itself from what EA is doing with FIFA.