Konami Credits eFootball's Growth to More Than the World Cup Tailwind
Konami's record quarter rests on a free-to-play foundation that was already in place to catch the World Cup tailwind, not on tournament excitement alone.
Reporting from 1 source: Magmix.
Konami Group reported record first-quarter results for the fiscal year ending March 2027, with net sales up 33.6% year-on-year. The company attributes part of the surge to eFootball, the free-to-play soccer title reborn from the Winning Eleven series. The FIFA World Cup 2026, which began June 11, 2026, fell inside the quarter and drew new and returning players. But the game's free-to-play model and its expansion into emerging markets, including Africa, also drove its global reach of 1 billion cumulative downloads.
The FIFA World Cup 2026 kicked off on June 11, 2026, inside Konami Group's first quarter, and eFootball rode that wave. The company's net sales rose 33.6% year-on-year, with record highs across all profit items for the quarter.
But the World Cup was only part of the story. eFootball shifted from the Winning Eleven series' one-time purchase model to free-to-play, lowering the barrier for casual players and soccer fans who do not usually play games. That model also opened emerging markets, with revenue growing in Africa. The result was 1 billion cumulative downloads worldwide, commemorated with an in-game campaign in April 2026.
eFootball is available on PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Windows, Steam, iOS, and Android.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 1 cited source below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.