eFootball will be going offline for 4 days to prepare for Season 2

Konami’s eFootball will undergo an extensive four-day maintenance period starting at the end of May, to prepare for the launch of its second season of content.

The official eFootball Twitter account posted a message informing players about the upcoming downtime and apologising for how long it will last.

During this downtime, only the game’s offline ‘trial match’ mode will be available, which gives players a limited selection of teams to choose from for either local multiplayer or matches against the AI.

When the downtime ends, the game’s version 1.1.0 update will be ready, with Season 2 coming a fortnight later.

“The events and campaigns for Season 1 have come to an end, and today marks the start of the pre-season period for Season 2,” Konami said.

“Version 1.1.0 update will include improvements of win/loss decision-making in online matches, enhancements of server capacity and preparation for future initiatives such as data sharing between console and mobile.

“The maintenance period will be from May 30 to June 2. During the maintenance period trial matches with some leagues and clubs will still be playable, with 2 new options added to trial matches: ‘Beginner’ difficulty level and 10 mins match time.

“After the maintenance is completed, Season 2 is scheduled to kick-off on June 16, which will be accompanied by various in-game events. Further details will be announced in-game, on the official website and on this Twitter account.

“We apologise for any inconvenience caused by the long maintenance period and thank you for your patience.”

The first version of eFootball was released in September 2021 to widespread criticism. The football simulator, which was widely panned for its poor gameplay and comical graphics, was named the worst reviewed game of 2021 by Metacritic.

In an attempt to turn things around, Konami delayed the planned November 2021 release of its major version 1.0.0 update, instead launching it in April 2022.

Version 1.0.0 added a wide variety of improvements on and off the pitch, and is generally considered a major step forward from that disappointing initial release.

Further reading

Hands-On: eFootball Ver 1.0.0 is Konami’s first step to redemption

Following a disastrous launch, this first major update shows a lot of promise

In VGC’s first hands-on with the April 2022 update, we said: “The absolute mess of last September has ensured that it’ll take a long time for eFootball to regain [its] reputation, but the improvements made for Version 1.0.0 show that this is a mountain that Konami is willing to climb.

“Is it a FIFA beater now, then? Of course not. But the fact it costs nothing to try out and is actually much more stable now at least makes it a viable alternative for people getting bored of EA’s offering.”