Konami Says Decision to Remove PES 2019 from this Month's PS Plus Lineup Was Made Entirely by Sony

When this month’s PlayStation Plus lineup of free games was announced, Konami’s soccer simPro Evolution Soccer 2019was slated to be one of July’s offerings. However, a few days later, the lineup was then changed andPES 2019was removed in favor of Quantic Dream’sDetroit: Become Human. Now, a representative from Konami has commented on the situation and has said that this change was entirely out of the publisher’s hands.

In a recent quote given to GameSpot, a Konami spokesperson said thatPES 2019’sremoval was something entirely done by Sony. “This decision was made by Sony and so please make an inquiry to Sony,” the statement clearly laid out.

Furthermore,PESEuropean brand manager Lennart Bobzien also told GameSpot that he was really taken aback by the change. “I cannot really tell you what happened because I just found out today, in the morning when I opened my laptop,” Bobzien said. “I can’t really explain.”

While the discretion to change the PS Plus lineup within a given month surely is within Sony’s right considering, well, they kind of own the service, it’s a bit odd to hear that members at Konami seemed blindsided by the news. If Sony was going to alter the lineup, you imagine people at Konami like Bobzien would’ve at least been a little more keyed into this information.

Personally, I’m still puzzled as to why Sony didn’t just include bothPES 2019andDetroit: Become Humanboth as free titles this month. Rather than removing one game from the list as a whole and replacing it with another, they could’ve just addedDetroitto sweeten the pot rather than entirely removePES 2019from the rotation for those that actually wanted it. While I’m sure many are happier withDetroitbeing apart of the lineup rather thanPES 2019, Sony’s handling of the situation has been a bit odd.