Is that partly down to sticking with this game after the disaster that eFootball has been?
Very much so.
But not only eFootball but also FIFA as well. PES 2021, at four years old, is still the best football game if you want to play offline. Well, for me it is. I'm actually considering buying a Steam Deck solely for this game, so I can mod it and enjoy for a few more years - because the footy game landscape looks bleak as anything. FIFA has won the war and is delivering the same skating, fast paced shit every year unchallenged. Konami is happy to get some money for no work with eFootball. Nobody new is on the horizon. So PES 2021 it is for me.
I'm not the only one to be honest.
Game has skyrocketed in price in past few years.
To buy on Steam now you're looking at 300+ euros.