Football Video Games Need to Bring Back Kit Mixing
- Viral Clip Highlights Lost Feature: A viral clip by carrasco1live featuring Pro Evolution Soccer 5 reminded players of the ability to mix and match kit parts, sparking community debate about its absence in modern games.
- Classic Kit Mixing Functionality: In PES 5 (2005), players could independently toggle shirts, shorts, and socks between home and away kits, mirroring real-world kit clash resolutions and allowing for iconic alternate looks.
- Modern Games' Limitations and Desired Features: Modern football games like EA Sports FC and eFootball still lack flexible kit mixing options, restricting players to rigid presets and prompting calls from fans for a dynamic kit piece selector and alternative short/sock colors.
A viral clip shared by carrasco1live has put the spotlight back on a long-lost feature from classic football video games: the ability to freely mix and match individual kit parts. Footage of Pro Evolution Soccer 5 running on a handheld console reminded players just how practical kit selection used to be two decades ago, reigniting debate across the community about why modern titles still lack this flexibility.
A Feature Lost to Time
Back in PES 5, released in 2005, players were able to independently toggle shirts, shorts, and socks between a team's home and away strips directly on the pre-match selection screen. This intuitive system mirrored real-world football back of that time, where clubs frequently alter their shorts or socks to resolve kit clashes. It allowed fans to easily recreate iconic alternate looks, such as monochrome combinations or traditional away pairings, with just a few button presses.
Modern Games Still Fall Short
More than twenty years later, modern football simulation giants like EA Sports FC and eFootball still restrict players to rigid, predetermined kit presets in standard match modes. Aside from dedicated PC mods, console gamers have no official way to mix shorts and socks, often resulting in teams being forced into change strips unnecessarily when only a shorts clash exists. Bringing back a simple, dynamic kit piece selector would be a major win for realism that kit aficionados have been requesting for years.
Alternative shorts and socks would be very much needed as well
For us, another option that we think is much needed in video games today is the availability of alternative shorts and sock colors. Brands create fitting alternative shorts and socks for most kits today, complying with kit rules and creating a perfectly fitting look.
Adding alternative shorts and sock colors would not require many resources - recoloring is enough in most cases.