Konami: Don't blame us for pulling PES 2019 from PS Plus, it was Sony's call
Open the Pizzagate.
Konami has said the decision to pull PES 2019 from PlayStation Plus' July 2019 lineup of titles the day it was meant to go live was Sony's.
PES 2019 was set to go live as a free download for Plus subscribers on 2nd July, but the game was pulled last minute, with Detroit chucked in to replace it.
In a statement issued to Eurogamer today, Konami pointed the finger at Sony.
"This decision was made by SIE and so please make an inquiry to SIE," was the statement given to us by a rep.
As instructed, we went to Sony, who confirmed it had made the decision in a curious statement that stressed it made the call "as a company":
"We have decided to make a change to the PS Plus games lineup this month, and will be offering Detroit: Become Human Digital Deluxe Edition instead of Pro Evolution Soccer 2019. This was a decision we decided to make as a company, and we apologise for any inconvenience."
Neither of these statements explains why PES 2019 was pulled, but reading between the lines it's clear some legal snag emerged late in the day.
It's worth noting Sony has signed a marketing deal with EA Sports for PES-rival FIFA (you'll see the PS4 pop up at the end of FIFA 20 promotional videos).
Meanwhile, PES 2019 was pulled from Plus just two days after Konami's contract with Liverpool for an official licence was terminated, and a day before Konami announced it had signed a deal with Manchester United for the club to appear in PES 2020 and future games, with 3D body-scanning, legends such as David Beckham and Old Trafford all included.
Whatever the case, at least the PES 2019 PS Plus saga has given us two of the sillier video game company statements of recent memory.