Its title is different from the other Pro Evolution Soccer games in that it is of a year and not a version; this was due to EA Sports' FIFA series naming their titles with two digit numbers (i.e. 07, 08), which would seem that PES was a year behind FIFA (to non-fans which had no knowledge of the previous games of the franchise); it is also the first game to use the PES title for the American market, which previously used the Japanese name.

The basic gameplay is centered around pointing the Wii Remote at the screen and directing players by dragging them with the on-screen cursor, and passing is done by simply pointing to the desired space or player and pressing a button.

This version omits the Master League mode for the Champions Road, which lets the player tour a slew of different leagues around Europe, and when a games is won, it is possible to acquire players from the defeated teams.

Jon Champion and Mark Lawrenson provide the English commentary for the first time, replacing long-time commentary team Peter Brackley and Trevor Brooking, who commentated from Pro Evolution Soccers 2 to 6.

[5] Also in the Japanese version, Jon Kabira and Tsuyoshi Kitazawa continue as commentators among Masahiro Fukuda and the pitch reporter was Florent Dabadie.

[56] The PlayStation 2 and Xbox 360 releases of Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 each received a "Platinum" sales award from the Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA),[57] indicating sales of at least 300,000 copies per version in the United Kingdom.