While rugby is a popular sport around the world and is even an official sport in the Olympics, rugby is still considered a fringe sport in the U.S. EA Sports released four rugby games and while the reviews were average, rugby fans were not enamored with the lack of care put into the sport they enjoy and love.
It was announced that rugby fans will be getting a new game that hopes to make hardcore fans of the sport happy. Rugby 18 is a joint venture by Bigben Interactive and Eko Software that will feature teams from England’s Premiership League and France’s TOP 14. More than 2,000 players from 2017-18 seasons will be featured and there will even be a management mode for players to develop their own team.
“As a huge sports fan, being able to work on RUGBY 18 is terrific. The team is working hard to reproduce everything that makes rugby unique as faithfully as possible,” Benjamin Lalisse, the game’s managing director said via press release. “I hope fans will enjoy fully experiencing the intensity of the big matches and sharing their passion for rugby.”
In the press release, the companies are promising the “most immersive rugby video game ever created” and to “ set a new standard for sport simulation games,” which are bold claims. According to Mikey Traynor of the website Balls, the hyperbole that is being said will be tough to live up to after a major gaming company such as EA Sports could not build a respectable rugby game.
“Eko Software deserve a lot of credit for giving fans of these sports something to play,” said Traynor. “But as the standards had been set early by the likes of Jonah Lomu Rugby and EA Sports Rugby 06/08, a studio of that size (Eko) simply cannot deliver the rugby game we all want.”
The key to the game will be realism. Rugby fans have waited for a simulation style rugby game that reenacts many of the strategy decisions and on-field play that they see. Without that, the Rugby 18 will not be successful so Eko and Bigben must deliver on their words or this could be a one and done situation for this rugby title.
Rugby 18 will be released for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Steam. No release date has been announced.
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