PES 2018 demo is coming at the end of August

Pro Evolution Soccer 2018 "is finally a football sim worthy of the PC," we said in our June hands-on preview. "[It] easily matches its PS4 and Xbox One counterparts, and may yet surpass them once the modding community sets to work." That's awfully high praise, but come August 30 you won't have to take our word for it—you'll be able to just play the demo instead.

The PES 2018 demo will feature two stadiums—Camp Nou and Signal Iduna Park—and clubs including Liverpool, Barcelona, Borussia Dortmund, Inter Milan, Corinthians, Flamengo, Boca Juniors, River Plate, and Colo-Colo. National teams from Brazil, Argentina, and Germany will also be playable. The demo will be offline-only but will support exhibition and co-op modes, and while the announcement and the image above both refer only to consoles, Konami confirmed that it's coming to the PC as well.

Pro Evolution Soccer 2018 is available for pre-purchase on Steam for $60/£55/€60, and will be out on September 12. Dive into the new Gamescom trailer down below, and find out more about the game at konami.com.

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.