Codemaster's starts developing first Soccer(football) game ever from their company.
by VGLN Staff

Monday, March 11, 2002

Game will not hit U.S shores until 2003, but we thought we'd tell you ahead of time.

Codemasters has executed a massive coup by signing
computer and video game rights deals with 15 of the most successful football
clubs across Europe. The licenses will be used to make a major impact in the
valuable football action games market with what is set to be the biggest
development and publishing project in Codemasters’ 16-year history.

The acclaimed UK based game developer and publisher will produce and
simultaneously launch an individually branded and badged game for each club
initially across two gaming platforms – PlayStation 2 and Xbox.

In the UK, the project will result in a Club Football game for every
PlayStation 2, and Xbox gamer including: Arsenal Club Football, Aston Villa
Club Football, Chelsea Club Football, Leeds United Club Football, Liverpool
Club Football, Manchester United Club Football, and Rangers Club Football.
Another eight European editions of the game will also be published [see
below for full list].

Delivering a club specific game for every fan, this unique way of bringing a
football action game to market taps into the very soul of football – the
tribal fanaticism of club supporters. Each game will carry the headline
brand of an individual football club and the overall series will be
sub-branded as Club Football.

Club Football is being designed to be the most realistic, playable football
action title brought to market. Uniquely, each club edition of the game will
be tailored specifically to each featured club and will include accurately
modeled stadiums to recreate the genuine match day experience.

The game enables players to create themselves as a digital footballer and
join the club’s first team alongside their heroes. All the official players
in the game are photo-realistic having been modeled in 3D using a new
photographic technique, exclusive to Club Football. On pitch gameplay puts
the gamer as a key player in the squad in matches against their club’s
rivals in a series of championships.

Simon Prytherch, head of the Codemasters’ Football Studio, has been charged
with designing and developing the game and it is his most ambitious project
to date. Simon’s experience includes making LMA Manager the best-selling
football management console game franchise.

“It’s every fan’s dream to train and play for their club,” says Simon. “To
come out of the tunnel and onto the hallowed turf; to see all the familiar
players beside you with the roar of your club’s supporters; that’s just a
taste of the atmosphere we’re going to deliver in Club Football.”

Codemasters’ series of Club Football titles is currently under development
and scheduled to launch in autumn 2002. The premier line up of international
football clubs confirmed to date, which will each have an
individually-branded game produced, is:



Arsenal (England)
Aston Villa (England)
Chelsea (England)
Leeds United (England)
Liverpool (England)
Manchester United (England)
Rangers (Scotland)
Borussia Dortmund (Germany)
Hamburg SV (Germany)
FC Bayern Munich (Germany)
Ajax (Netherlands)
FC Barcelona (Spain)
AC Milan (Italy)
Inter Milan (Italy)
Juventus (Italy)

--- VGLN Staff