Rugby 24 has been delayed, which isn’t very surprising – delays happen. What’s strange is the reason behind the delay, which isn’t your usual “adding polish” excuse.
Rugby 24, Nacon’s sports sim, was on course to enter early access this March. However, Nacon and developer Big Ant Studios (who took over from EKO Software) have announced it won’t be hitting that window. Furthermore, they’re unable to provide any concrete date as to when it’ll arrive.
It’s been postponed not because it needs a final polish to iron bugs and other issues out but because Nacon has been unable to get the motion capture data it needed. That, in turn, is because it hasn’t secured the participation of enough professional clubs. Without that participation, Nacon feels it can’t go ahead with a release at this stage.
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Nacon and Big Ant haven’t said why this is, whether it was a time/scheduling issue or if the clubs weren’t sufficiently motivated to participate. “We are aware that your expectations for Rugby 24 as fans of the sport are high, just like us, and we are committed to bringing you a feature-full, quality Rugby Game,” the statement explains.
Players generally accept that early access games will be rough around the edges and far from feature complete. But Rugby 22, the last entry in Nacon’s series, got mixed reviews, so presumably, it’s intent on making the best impression it can with Rugby 24. With insufficient photogrammetry data, the players wouldn’t necessarily be T-posing around the pitch, but it’d make for a less convincing experience. But it’s still one of the strangest reasons for delaying a game I’ve ever heard, and I’d love to know precisely why Nacon ran into this issue.
The statement promises updates in the near future, so keep an eye on the game’s official Twitter for more news.
Published: Mar 28, 2024 11:54 am