eFootball CONNECT: Master League returns!

In a recent regular YouTube broadcast of eFootball CONNECT , ahead of the v5.3.0 update on February 5th, 2026 (Thursday), the game development team, represented by Seitaro Kimura – General Director and Junichi Taya – General Producer, revealed quite a few interesting details about the update and answered some questions sent in by the eFootball player community.

tipsplay.net summarizes this in the following article.

Program Content

The topics covered in the interview with the two eFootball representatives included:

• TOPIC 1: Cross-platform play and controllers for phones
• TOPIC 2: EDIT Mode
• TOPIC 3: The MASTER LEAGUE Tournament
• TOPIC 4: Servers
• TOPIC 5: Questions & Answers by Riku Hagiwara – Community Ambassador (interviewer)

Cross-platform play and controller support for phones.

Riku Hagiwara – Community Ambassador – raised a question, noting that eFootball had announced cross-platform play between devices (phones, consoles, and PCs) on X (Twitter's new name) in May 2022, but so far it has not delivered on what was announced.

Seitaro Kimura – General Director, confirmed the information is correct but stated that cross-platform play between consoles (PS, Xbox) and PC was only implemented through the v4.4.0 update last year (2025).

However, this cannot be implemented between mobile phones and the two console systems – PCs – because of the "too many differences in configuration and controls," and it would create "unfairness for mobile gamers."

Therefore, for the time being, a direct confrontation between phones and the two major systems is not yet possible.

At the same time, Seitaro Kimura also confirmed that the v5.3.0 update on February 5, 2026, will officially allow mobile phone users to use external controllers to play games, similar to how console/PC gamers use them.

Riku Hagiwara – Community Ambassador, experienced eFootball on his phone with a PS5 controller and said the controls felt 'quite smooth', just like playing on a console/PC, especially since the absence of buttons on the phone screen gave him a more 'immersive' feeling while playing.

EDIT mode

The EDIT mode (essentially a form of 'modding') is an interesting feature dating back to the old Pro Evolution Soccer days , allowing players to modify game data to customize player names, club names, leagues, etc. This is because trademark rights have always been a persistent weakness for KONAMI, as they've always been outmaneuvered by their rival EA, making it very difficult to overcome.

This is the key point that led to the EDIT mode, and many old PES players absolutely loved it.

During the interview, when asked, General Producer Junichi Taya frankly shared: there will be no EDIT mode.

The reasons pointed out by Mr. Junichi are:

• Copyright laws today are increasingly stricter and come in many forms than in the past, so they cannot be arbitrarily changed.
• KONAMI is concerned that the virus will spread and attack servers and player computers.
• Modifying the data will violate KONAMI's data security policy.

However, Mr. Junichi also stated that KONAMI is striving to strengthen its cooperation in terms of image rights and the names of partner players and clubs more continuously and regularly to serve eFootball fans .

MASTER LEAGUE tournament

Master League is a core feature that forms the heart and soul of previous PES games. Its appeal lies in allowing players to manage their team from training and scouting players to calculating expenses, planning salaries, and of course, jumping into matches to take down opponents!

The most interesting aspect is that players start their team with a very… 'low-quality' squad, gradually rising to the top through dramatic and intense matches! To build a strong, 'dream' team, players have to play many seasons, leading to almost unlimited replay value in PES games!

KONAMI experimented with a different format through My League, but it seems to have been abandoned by PES fans because it's nothing like Master League!

Seitaro Kimura revealed that around mid-April 2026, KONAMI will unveil more details about Master League, only sharing a few in-game screenshots at the eFootball CONNECT event .

A celebration by Castolo – a familiar face to PES players and anyone who takes penalty kicks daily in eFootball !

The familiar 'weak' lineup returns in Master League.

Additionally, there are features that once captivated PES gamers through illustrations, such as: excessive training leading to player exhaustion, injuries causing players to miss several matches, 'unlocking' new skills, etc.

Server

Mr. Junichi Taya confirmed that eFootball will set up servers in Thailand this February . Neighboring countries will benefit from this new server system as it will minimize the persistent problem of lag during online matches!

Q&A

Riku Hagiwara – Community Ambassador, posed a crucial question: Do games have 'scripts'?

'Scripts' are a form of 'hidden' manipulation used to 'balance' the power between paying and free players, as speculated by the eFootball community for a long time . Common phenomena associated with 'scripts' include: slow player movement, weak teams (of free players) performing exceptionally well compared to stronger teams of paying players, constant shots hitting the post, illogical ball bounces, etc.

Seitaro Kimura immediately asserted emphatically: there are no "scripts" in the game!

They also stated that the phenomenon of players blaming "scripts" can be due to many reasons such as decreased player fitness, unstable internet connection, button lag, etc.

Regarding POTW (Player of the Week) cards, Riku Hagiwara believes that currently, POTW cards lack the appeal to encourage players to hunt for and use them regularly. Most players only use them for a few matches before discarding them, unlike Epic cards which have more appeal.

Both eFootball representatives acknowledged the feedback and stated that the game development team would review and make adjustments to make the POTW cards more appealing to players.

Finally, there's the question of the current limit on the number of players a player can own (around 1000). Seitaro Kimura stated that this is a 'relationship with the physical limitations of the server': to manage millions of players with so much data, the server needs to allocate a storage limit to each player. Upgrading the server storage limit would be quite expensive, but the company will consider it.

The interview with the two eFootball representatives was quick, concise, and quite frank, addressing several noteworthy issues such as Master League, Scripts, etc. However, one 'problem' that fans are calling out for was conspicuously absent from the eFootball CONNECT broadcast : Smart Assist.

It was only mentioned in the video description, essentially: KONAMI is taking community feedback into account and considering the Smart Assist feature. There will be limited testing of Smart Assist in PvP matches this summer.

Let's wait and see what KONAMI will reveal next in the upcoming eFootball CONNECT programs !