7. Licences
Let's kick things off with the elephant in the room. Chances are, if you are reading this, you already understand that Konami still don't have many of the biggest teams in the world officially licensed, but it's not for lack of trying. It's argued that EA have spent more on advertising and on tying up exclusive deals with Premier League teams than they have on all of their other franchises combined. That might seem crazy, but the fact remains that Konami simply cannot afford to compete with EA on that level. It's been a thorn in the side of PES since the series' inception, with the more causal football fan automatically drawn to the more appealing, fully featured FIFA, especially when comparing huge teams like Manchester City, who are named in PES as Man Blue. But for all EA's dominance in that specific area, they are missing out on arguably the biggest and best competition in world football. Konami hold exclusive rights to the UEFA Champions League and use the license superbly. While FIFA have the Barclays Premier League and Bundesliga, Konami offer a different taste with the Europa League and Copa Libertidores. That's even before mentioning edit mode, where licenses become a non issue. Option file-makers create every league they can think of with meticulous detail. Side by side, a fully edited PES 2014 stands toe to toe with FIFA, especially on PC. Some argue it looks better. Ultimately though, FIFA wins on sheer depth alone, even if PES certainly offers an equally exciting package in terms of licenses. The question is, do you prefer the Premier League or Champions League?
Winner: FIFA 2014