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Konami Marks 1 Billion eFootball Downloads With Week-Long Master League 'Sprint'

The one-week tease underscores Konami’s live-service focus over a full offline campaign.

Overview

  • The in-game Master League Sprint, which launched Thursday, runs through April 16 in the free-to-play eFootball to celebrate passing 1 billion downloads.
  • The event revives PES staples such as fictional players Castolo and Minanda and brings back squad building, transfers, training, and chemistry-focused 'Synergy' matches.
  • Matches trigger scripted 'episodes' like player growth, changing form, and injuries, and points earned let players reshape their squads with new signings.
  • Player reaction on social media has skewed negative, with Push Square highlighting complaints that using the Master League name for a short event feels like a downgrade.
  • Konami paired the rollout with a Master League-themed manga by Kiminori Wakasugi on K MANGA and confirmed no Switch 2 version of eFootball, opting instead for a separate offline-leaning spin-off called eFootball Kick-Off! due this summer.