PES dev: Licenses no excuse for FIFA dominance

Licenses can't be used as an excuse for FIFA's dominance over Pro Evolution Soccer when it comes to sales, according to European brand manager Adam Bhatti.

FIFA has famously included many more official teams, players and stadiums compared to PES, which instantly makes it more appealing to newcomers.

However Bhatti says there's no point blaming the licensing issue, claiming that it's all about gameplay and Konami has failed to top PES 6 from eight years ago.

"I think people make a little bit too much of the licenses situation," he told ArabicGamers. "In reality we don't have two of the biggest European leagues, we have everything else."

Bhatti added that the licenses issue wasn't a frustration as there were other things to focus on.

"It's a frustration if we were nailing the gameplay," he stated. "If we could go to sleep at night and think that we've smashed PES 5 & 6 into history, then we can start looking at why people aren't buying the game.

"And if it's a licensing thing then so be it. It's not something I'm going to worry about myself, because if PES goes back to selling the sort of numbers that we did in 5 & 6 then we're not the ones who are going to be worrying.

"I think if we ever made a game that we can seriously say is better, and the fans can say it as well, that this is the best PES ever, and it still loses a hell of a lot of sales because of licenses, then we can look at that as an excuse.

"But until we nail the gameplay we can't. We can't look at that as a get-out."

Bhatti has spoken to ArabicGamers about many areas, including his belief that PES has caught up to FIFA in terms of visuals and how PES is more of an authentic representation of football compared to its rival.

Click here to read our hands-on preview of PES 2015, where we came away very impressed with how this year's installment is shaping up. Alternatively you can read our FIFA 15 preview here.