Every year, in the run up to Christmas, thoughts of gamers inevitably turn to which new video games they'd like to get and there is a particular condundrum pondered by football fans: FIFA or PES?
EA Sports' FIFA series and Konami's Pro Evolution Soccer are among the bestsellers of the video game world, with FIFA surging ahead of its counterpart over the course of the past decade.
Improvements made to the PES range in recent seasons have helped to win back previously loyal gamers who opted to switch to FIFA, though there will always be fanatics who cannot abide one or the other.
If you're open to trying FIFA or PES again, to help you compare, Goal takes a look the upcoming games - FIFA 21 and PES 2021 - to give you an idea of what you can expect from both.
FIFA 21 vs PES 2021: which game will have better graphics?
The graphics on FIFA and PES are of a very high quality, with both sets of developers utilising similar approaches in terms of rendering the visual data of the games.
Expect to see incredibly detailed versions of the best players in the world, including how they move as well as their appearance, and the greater detail in the stadiums that games are played in.
With the games set to be released on next-generation consoles like the PS5 and Xbox Series X, there is plenty of anticipation that graphics in FIFA 21 and PES 2021 will be much better than their predecessors.
Konami has been using the Fox engine for its last seven PES titles and it will switch to Unreal Engine 5 for ninth-gen consoles. EA Sports, meanwhile, has been using the Frostbite 3 engine for its last four titles.
EA Sports
FIFA 21 vs PES 2021: which game will have better licensing?
EA Sports' FIFA series has long boasted a superior selection of fully licensed teams than Konami's PES and that will no doubt be the case when the new titles are released in 2020.
FIFA 20, for example, has over 700 licensed teams across 37 leagues, including the UEFA Champions League, while PES 2020 has 19 fully licensed leagues (out of 24) and only a handful of fully licensed clubs in the Premier League and La Liga.
In the past, the sheer absurdity of the fake team names in PES - Man Red or MD White anyone? - contributed to its cult status among avid gamers, but Konami has worked to secure a considerable array of licensing agreements with leagues, including Ligue 1 and Serie A, in the past five years.
Some of the notable club partnerships for PES 2021 include Barcelona, Manchester United and, most notably, Juventus, who signed up to an exclusive agreement with Konami which resulted in EA Sports being forced to rename them 'Piemonte Calcio' in FIFA 20 and FIFA 21.
Konami
FIFA 21 vs PES 2021: which game will have better gameplay?
As with anything, when it comes to which gameplay is better, it is often a matter of preference. However, it is notable that the PES series has long been lauded for its strict privileging of realism.
By contrast, FIFA has been described as "arcade" in terms of gameplay style, though that is not necessarily a slight. Indeed, it appears that FIFA's gamplay pleases a greater number of people judging by the game's superior sales figures.
As mentioned, there has been speculation that Konami will attempt to launch PES 2021 with a new game engine on next-gen consoles, which, while it will theoretically bring gameplay improvements, also comes with risks of bugs.
FIFA 21 vs PES 2021: which game will have the best features?
FIFA and PES will continue with the game features that have thus far brought them great success, such as FIFA's Ultimate Team and Career Mode, and PES's MyClub and Master League.
Naturally, any new title will involve tweaks to make the feature offerings better - based on feedback from gamers, popular opinion and the ideas of developers themselves.
While PES has similar versions of FIFA's Ultimate Team and Career Mode, it does not have a street or indoor football mode such as FIFA's Volta mode, which was rolled out in FIFA 20.
Volta was not the resounding success that EA Sports might have envisaged, but it has its adherents and gave FIFA an added dynamic that was absent in PES.
PES 2021 will, however, have Euro 2021, having previously been gearing up to launch a Euro 2020 patch update for PES 2020 before the coronavirus pandemic-forced postponement.
Interestingly, while Konami managed to scoop the rights to UEFA's European Championship, it will not have the Champions League (or Europa League) after EA Sports landed a deal with UEFA in 2018.
FIFA 21 vs PES 2021: which game will be cheaper?
| Game* | UK price | US price |
|---|---|---|
| FIFA 21 | £59.99 | $59.99 |
| PES 2021 | £24.99 | $29.99 |
*Standard edition prices
In terms of price, PES 2021 is half the price of FIFA 21, which may tempt gamers to go with the Konami title instead.
The standard edition of PES 2021 is priced at £24.99 in the United Kingdom or $29.99 in the United States. By contrast, FIFA 21 standard edition will cost £59.99 in the UK and $59.99 in the US.
Club edition games of PES 2021 (for the likes of Manchester United and Barcelona) cost £29.99 in the UK and $34.99 in the US.
However, that is still considerably cheaper than the FIFA 21 prices. Indeed, the cost of the EA Sports game's Champions and Ultimate editions are more expensive again.
The Champions edition costs £79.99 in the UK and $79.99 in the US, while the Ultimate edition will set you back £89.99 or $99.99.