When the Playstation Plus Free Games for the month of July 2019 was announced, Konami’s PES 2019 was listed as one of those games, but in a very surprising and last-minute move, Sony decided to swap the game with Quantic Dream’s Detroit: Become Human. This obviously lead to some confusion amongst those expecting a soccer game and instead of a game about androids and choices.
Naturally, with a lack of explanation, the community pointed its finger at Konami. However in a short statement about the situation, a Konami spokesperson stated: “This decision was made by Sony and so please make an inquiry to Sony.”
In their own statement, Sony did admit to the change but did not give a reason why, stating: “We have decided to make a change to the PS Plus games lineup this month, and will be offering Detroit: Become Human Digital Deluxe Edition instead of PES 2019. This was a decision we decided to make as a company, and we apologize for any inconvenience.”
With a comment to Gamespot, European PES brand manager Lennart Bobzien said on the day of the change that it was not planned and took Konami by surprise: “I cannot really tell you what happened because I just found out today, in the morning when I opened my laptop. I can’t really explain.”
The latest entry in the PES is still set to release later this year under a different name: eFootball: PES 2020.