PES 2014: "We could lose every fan we've ever had"

Jonathan Murphy tells us why the stakes are so high for the latest instalment of Pro Evolution Soccer.

Bengt Lemne talks to Jonathan Murphy about PES 2014 at this year's E3. They discuss the new engine powering the game, and the features set to appear in the latest iteration of the long-running football series.

"We've been building towards this for several years," Murphy told us. "We're using the Fox engine as the basis of the next generation of PES. On top of that we also have a whole new system for turning that Fox engine into a football game, because only in rare cases do people run around on a football pitch using guns."

A new engine means there's significant changes coming: "It is not the PES that you know anymore, and it's the biggest changes we've made in ten years."

Murphy explained that one of the biggest changes would be on the player's relationship with the ball: "We're centering the action on the ball rather than the player, it's a ball-centric approach," he explained.

When asked about retaining that all important PES feeling, Murphy explained just how big a risk the studio is taking with this year's version: "Now is the time that we could lose that [the PES feeling]. Now is the time that we could lose every fan we've ever had," he said, before later adding: "They're trying new things that hopefully will push that PES feeling much further, and create moments that you can only get from PES."

This year's version isn't heading to next-gen consoles (unlike another football game that we won't mention here). Murphy explained the reason behind the focus on current-gen consoles: "We couldn't do everything in one year... We could have produced a next-gen version of PES and ignored the current fans and brought out a lazy version, but then what does that mean to our fanbase?"

"What we want to do is support the current-gen, where our current fans are now, with a great new engine, and take that next step when we've got enough time to make an awesome next-gen version as well," he added.

Watch the rest of the interview for more details on the features set to appear in the game. The introduction of the Barycenter (moving your body in one direction, the ball in the other), a new physics system, the return of PES ID, giant killing and against the odds moments, and how home and away stats for players will impact form on the pitch.