Guide
Player ID Explained: How PES 2013 Made Stars Feel Like Themselves
Konami's Player ID system recreated the runs, touches and celebrations of around fifty stars in PES 2013. Here is how it works and who benefits most.
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Watch Ronaldo receive the ball in PES 2013 and you know it is him before the commentary does: the posture, the chopped stepovers, the way he strikes through the ball. That recognition is Player ID, the system Konami built to make its stars individuals. This guide explains how it works.
What Player ID actually is
Player ID is a layer of bespoke animation and behaviour applied to around fifty of the world's best players. Their running styles, first touches, turns, dribbling rhythms, shooting mechanics and celebrations were studied and recreated individually, so each star's movement vocabulary matches the real footballer, not a generic athlete of the same height.
The stars who define it
Ronaldo is the showcase: the stepovers, the knuckleball free kick stance, the explosive inside cuts. Neymar dribbles with a loose, playful rhythm and draws fouls the way he did at Santos. Kaka runs in long, gliding strides. Messi stays low and changes direction without breaking stride. Each feels right in the hands within a minute of play. For the complete picture of the game, start from the front page of this PES 2013 guide and work outwards from there.
Player ID in defence and goal
The system extends beyond attackers. Defenders carry their real tackling postures and recovery runs, and top goalkeepers have their own handling and distribution styles. It is subtler at the back, but after a season you read an opponent's danger from body shape the way you do watching real football.
How it changes gameplay
Player ID is not cosmetic. Signature animations have signature properties: Ronaldo's chop covers ground that a generic cut does not, and Neymar's touches invite contact that wins free kicks. Learning a star's animation timings is a real skill in PES 2013, which is why the same player can feel average for one user and unstoppable for another.
ProActive AI, the partner system
Player ID works with ProActive AI, which governs how all players move without the ball. Team mates make decoy runs to drag markers away from your star, and opponents double up on the famous names. The two systems together produce the game's signature feeling: individuals shining inside a team that reacts like one. We go deeper on the connected topic in our history of the 2012 rivalry with FIFA 13, which pairs well with this one.
Finding Player ID value in Master League
In Master League, Player ID players cost more and justify it in the matches that matter, where one signature action breaks a final. Build your system around one Player ID star's real habits: if he cuts inside, clear his lane; if he glides central, play through him early and often.
The fifty, and everyone else
Below the top tier, many more players carry partial individual touches, favoured foot behaviours and realistic builds. The gap between a Player ID star and a squad player in PES 2013 is deliberately larger than in rival games, a design choice that makes star signings feel like events. We go deeper on the connected topic in our history of the magic boots debate, which pairs well with this one.
Why Player ID still gets talked about
Modern games chase realism with physics and graphics. Player ID chased it with observation, asking what makes this footballer recognisable in silhouette. Returning players still name it as the feature they miss most, because it made PES 2013's stars feel hand made rather than generated.
Quick Answers
What is Player ID in PES 2013?
Player ID recreates the individual running styles, touches, dribbling, shooting and celebrations of around fifty star players, so stars such as Ronaldo, Neymar, Messi and Kaka move and play like themselves.
Does Player ID affect gameplay or is it just animation?
It affects gameplay. Signature animations cover ground and open angles differently, so a star's chop, turn or strike has real mechanical advantages once you learn its timing.
Which players have Player ID in PES 2013?
Around fifty of the world's best, led by cover star Cristiano Ronaldo and including Neymar, Lionel Messi and Kaka, with individual touches extending to many more players below that tier.