Now Sensible Soccer gets its own revival

Another cherished football game of old is hoping for a comeback.

It was announced last month that Kick Off is returning in the form of the Sony-backed Dino Dini’s Kick Off Revival. Now arch rival Sensible Soccer is coming back with a new title called Sociable Soccer.

It’s being helmed by original developer Jon Hare and is in development for PS4, Xbox One and PC. It intends to stay true to the series’ arcade roots while updating the formula with online multiplayer, clan-based leagues and lots of player customisation.

The game is currently looking for 300k on Kickstarter.

The game features 500 national, club and custom teams with over 10,000 player names. Although not licensed, the game will be fully editable. There will be 30 single player trophies and DIY competitions for up to eight layers on a single machine.

And yes, you can have the traditional series’ overhead view, although a number of other more modern camera angles will also be available.

‘A community of approximately 20m fans worldwide have played the football games I have designed,” Hare stated. I’m thrilled to return to the genre and look forward to delivering a football game which once again raises the bar

For years I have been planning the spiritual successor to Sensible Soccer. Competing with FIFA and PES requires much more than just a remake, it needs a different take on football games altogether, blending the instant playability of yesteryear with the power of modern technology.

Speaking to Eurogamer, Hare said that he has previously approached Codemasters about the use of the Sensible Soccer name, albeit with no success.

Sensible Soccer is owned by Codemasters and it has been since 1999. I’ve had chats with them, but they’ve never offered me reasonable licensing conditions. I’ve been talking to them for 10 years about it. It’s just not worth my while,” he added.

You saw what happened with Cannon Fodder on PC. I offered to do a Cannon Fodder before that deal was done, and they said they didn’t want to do the deal with me because they could get a much better licensing deal with another developer and they made that instead. I wanted a decent percentage because, why not? And because I could do a better job. They said they could get a better deal with another company. Well, you saw what they did.

Codemasters is entitled to do what they like with Sensible Soccer. It’s their license now. I understand why people associate me with it, because I designed it. But I can’t control that license any more. And I’ve not been able to for 16 years. So, I think now is the time to say, okay, I made Microprose Soccer. That was the best football game on Commodore 64. I made Sensible Soccer and Sensible World of Soccer. They were the best football games on Amiga certainly, Atari ST maybe, Mega Drive for a time. It’s time to do it again with a digital game. Just set up a new franchise and go from scratch.”

Sociable Soccer, should it be funded, is due out in 2016.

Not everyone is best pleased with the news, however.

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