Konami have been quite regular in keeping “Pro Evolution Soccer 2015” up to date with new features and gameplay elements, and now they’ve released one of the game’s more major updates, the Data Pack 2, which brings several significant additions to the gameplay, including four new teams, 73 player faces, and new locations to play in. The update also improves the gameplay by adding new features to “myClub”.
The new teams featured in the update are FC Basel 1893, Besiktas, FC Bate Borisov and NK Maribor. The publisher has completely licensed all teams, including their full sets of kits, rosters and other details. Meanwhile, players can also use new faces in the game, including Jose Callejon, Aaron Ramsey and more, and even some newcomers to the scene like Iker Muniain and Rúben Neves.
Players can also enjoy their matches in several new locations, including Estadio do Morumbi, Saitama Stadium and more. According to the developers, the stadiums have been reproduced very meticulously, copying all important details down to the last bit, and look extremely realistic. Fans of the game who have visited any of the stadiums in person should enjoy the familiar feeling.
The game is also improved with more minor details, such as additional boots and balls, including designs from companies like Adidas, Umbro and Mizuno. The collection even includes official balls from Pro Ligue 1 and Context 15.
There are also improvements to the gameplay, such as a new panel in the main menu screen, as well as time-limited Event Competitions. Players can also enter tournaments against CPU opponents instead of human-controlled ones, and when they choose to play against real players, they will be matched against someone of a similar skill level, and will receive rewards for winning the tournament.
Best of all, the update is completely free! Even though it brings a lot of new content, something which most other companies would normally charge anywhere between $5 and $20 for, Konami seem intent on supporting their game with free updates for quite a long time. It’s not clear if they will continue the same trend for the future, although there seems to be a good chance that the game will be supported for a while without fans having to pay for major content like that.
This model seems to be working out quite well for the company so far, which shouldn’t be that surprising, as companies like Valve have already proven that this system can work if done right, with games such as “Team Fortress 2” which is still getting updated with free content over five years after its initial release, and it’s still highly popular.