French gamer is PES champ

Konami Digital Entertainment has announced that Rachid Tabane from France has fought off all-comers to be declared 2015 PES World Champion.

Rachid and 24 rivals from all across the globe gathered at the Olympic Stadium in Berlin to take part in a hard-fought competition on June 6th using the PlayStation 4 version of PES 2015. Within a special area within the Berlin ground, the initial group stages saw entrants from Germany, Spain, Italy and the UK fall by the way side, as the initial 25 was whittled down to just 8 for the quarter finals.

The tournament played an integral part in the annual UEFA Champions Festival, a four-day event that celebrates all that is great about football. The Festival runs until the UEFA Champions League Final and gives the public a wide range of free activities and exhibitions, alongside interactive sponsor activations. PES 2015 was heavily featured within the PlayStation area, with pods allowing visitors to experience the dedicated UEFA Champions League mode the game offers.

Rachid met Austrian entrant, Matthias Luttenberger, in the final. The semi-finals had been incredibly tense, and third place was secured by Ron Strikel from Israel. In a tense final played within the hallowed stadium, Rachid sealed his position as World’s Greatest PES 2015 player with a 3 – 2 victory. As the final whistle blew, the watching crowd applauded the new PES 2015 World Champion. As champion, Rachid received an incredible 15,000 Euros and two tickets for that night’s UEFA Champions League Final. Runner-up Matthias received 5.000 Euros for his valiant efforts, with third-place Ron earning a respectable 2000 Euros.

All three received warm congratulations from Shinji Hirano, Division Manager, Sales Division and Corporate Officer, and it was a fitting end to a stunning year’s competitive PES 2015 action.

“Huge congratulations to Rachid, who faced a tough battle to secure his title,” said Erik Bladinieres, Director of Football for Konami Digital Entertainment B.V. “This was a suitably exciting tournament with all the surprises and thrills that you expect of a real top-level tournament. Thanks to all those who attended, and commiserations to those who fell at the final hurdles this year. We now look ahead to the 2016 season, with ever more players joining the PES revolution, we anticipate an even more hard-fought season next year.”