German club FC Schalke 04 was recently confirmed as the next fully licensed and faithfully recreated club coming to Pro Evolution Soccer 2019, and the club's esports division is also the first to join Barça in the new club-based PES 2019 league planned for next season, the so-called eFootball.Pro league.
Both Konami and the league's organisers have just announced the new team, but it isn't clear yet how this league will relate to PES League 2019, a competition that has had both independent and team-based pro players. We expect to learn more in Barcelona in a month's time, when the World Tour 2018 finals take place on July 21.
FC Schalke 04's inclusion feels as natural as it is expected, given its esports division already had pro players not only playing PES but also other top competitive games such as LoL. In fact, the team's competitive gaming lead considers the club as "a pioneer" when it comes to adding an esports department.
Gerard Piqué, president and founder of the new club-based league, admits "Schalke is highly experienced on eSports and will help us building a high-quality competition", also pointing out that the German team will be "a very tough rival for Barça, but same as other yet to be announced clubs joining the competition".
So learning which teams will bring pro players to eFootball.Pro, as well as finding out how the competition will work in relation to the PES League are the two questions that should be answered through the summer.
