Pro Evolution Soccer

Written By Unknown on Friday, April 12, 2013 | 2:34 AM

Pro Evolution Soccer (officially abbreviated as PES and known as World Soccer: Winning Eleven in Japan and South Korea) is a series of football video games developed and published by Konami. The series has been produced under the guidance of Shingo "Seabass" Takatsuka.

Every year, the game is released around late September and/or early October with two different titles: World Soccer: Winning Eleven in Japan, and Pro Evolution Soccer in other countries. The Japanese version is a localized version that features local leagues. In 2007, the franchise began to use the name "Winning Eleven: Pro Evolution Soccer" for the American market, which was later changed to "Pro Evolution Soccer" in 2008, dropping the "Winning Eleven" moniker entirely for that region.

Partially as a result of EA Sports' affinity to purchasing exclusive rights for their FIFA series, the games have historically lacked the sheer volume of licenses present in EA's offerings, with the most notable absences being the Premier League and Bundesliga. As such, team jerseys, names, and players may be inaccurate.

Currently, Portuguese player Cristiano Ronaldo is the face of the franchise, appearing on front cover of every game being released in the series and in promotional campaigns and advertisements in the media.

As of December 2011, the Pro Evolution Soccer franchise has been localized into 19 languages and available in 62 countries. As of December 2012, the series have been sold more than 81.65 million copies worldwide, making it one of the best-selling video game franchises.