As the year hits the halfway mark, it’s time to look ahead on the many sports games releasing within the next 12 months, including some fan-favorites.
There are few things that are givens in this world, but annual sports games are one of them. From the very conception of the first home consoles, sports games have always been a staple. By the mid 1990s, annual sports releases were becoming the norm, with franchises like Madden NFL and FIFA rearing their heads every year consistently. In these early days, yearly sports titles were truly innovative, attempting to capture the sport as best they could with the technology they were given.
Nowadays, millions pick up the new FIFA, NBA, or Madden every year, and publishers keep raking in the sales, even if some big sports titles fail to live up to expectations. With half of the year left, there are still plenty of sports games set to release, including some fan-favorites, and some bold newcomers.
Releasing in just a few weeks, on July 7, Matchpoint: Tennis Championships aims to be a far more modern and realistic tennis game than competitors like Mario Tennis. To capture this realism, developer Torus Games is using smooth character animations and state-of-the-art ball physics to make each shot and serve feel more real than the last. Players will be able to create their own tennis superstar and throw them into a deep career mode that features a complex ranking system. Alternatively, players can choose from 16 world-famous tennis stars to play as, with a range of customizable cosmetics to boot. Players wanting to try out Matchpoint: Tennis Championships before its July release date can download the newly released demo via Steam, or the Microsoft Store.
Coming out in just over a month, on August 19, Madden NFL 23 is the next installment in the long-running football franchise. With Madden being one of the annual series mentioned up top, it's unlikely that the formula is going to change much, but EA is adamant that this year's entry is a definite step-up over its predecessor, with a whole new physics system. Called "FieldSENSE," this new system tweaks Madden NFL's defensive AI, offers a more precise method of passing, and makes tackling so precise that the game can apparently detect which individual body part was impacted during a tackle. While Madden NFL 23 is dropping for last-gen systems as well, FieldSENSE will only be available for current-gen consoles.
Though it hasn't been officially confirmed just yet, FIFA 23 is a given at this point. With EA recently announcing that it was going to be making a departure from the FIFA license in the near-future, being rebranded as EA Sports FC, it seems pretty likely that FIFA 23 will be the final entry in this 30-year franchise. No gameplay details are out yet, but a World Cup mode has been leaked. If it follows the same pattern as the rest of the series, FIFA 23 will probably release towards the end of the year, likely at the end of September or early November.
A newcomer enters the arena; developed by Strikerz Inc., UFL is an upcoming free-to-play soccer game in a similar vein to FIFA. In the wake of the disastrous launch of eFootball last year, UFL has repeatedly assured gamers that UFL has no pay-to-win mechanics, and that it puts skill first. There's currently no exact release date for UFL, but it is slated for a 2022 release.
The final sports game officially slated for a 2022 release, Blood Bowl 3 takes the Warhammer board game of the same name, and transforms it into a thrilling, funny, turn-based video game. Acting as a sequel to the 2015 Blood Bowl 2, Blood Bowl 3 is using the updated Second Edition ruleset, and features a whopping total of 12 playable races, ranging from the iconic Orcs, to the Elven Union, Dark Elves, and Chaos Renegades. With a third beta just wrapped up, it seems as though Blood Bowl 3 is well on track for a 2022 release.
From his earliest gaming memories playing Spyro 2 on the PlayStation, to being obsessed with the swing-out animations in Marvel’s Spider-Man, Cameron has always been, and continues to be, in love with video games. What started as frenzied childhood discussions on Star Wars Battlefront 2 has transitioned into somewhat less frenzied breakdowns on…Star Wars Battlefront 2. It’s fair to say that video games are an integral part of Cameron’s life, and hopefully they’ll continue to be.
