The competition will certainly be fierce during next month’s Rugby World Cup tournament in New Zealand, which starts on September 9th. However, there’ll also be a battle raging on between two rugby-orientated games which release during a similar time frame in order to cash in on the excitement and anticipation surrounding the event.
These two titles are Rugby World Cup 2011 and Jonah Lomu Rugby Challenge. The former releases on August 26th and the latter’s release date is yet to be confirmed. This is creating a bit of a public relations nightmare for Rugby Challenge’s publishers Tru Blu Entertainment as fans pester them to commit to a date.
The publisher’s managing director Sebastian Giompaolo recently posted a note on Facebook where he directly addressed fans’ concerns. In the note he concedes that, despite their best efforts and intentions, the game will not be released before their competitor. He then goes on to say: “We are still on track to release before the end of Quarter 3, which is no later than the 30th of September”.
“Please be patient. Soon you will have the pleasure of playing the best rugby game ever”.
Those of you monitoring Rugby Challenge’s Twitter feed will also have seen confirmation that no demo is planned for the title. This means that Rugby Challenge will be a tougher sell because people will only have screenshots, trailers and media feedback to go on when the game goes on sale.
We’ll let you know as soon as an exact release date is announced for Rugby Challenge. The game will be available on PC, Xbox 360 and PS3, and also on PS Vita sometime around the handheld’s launch next year.
Be sure to browse through our previous coverage of this promising rugby title.
- Kingdoms of Amalur's 38 Studios and Big Huge Games suffer massive layoffs following $75 million state loan default
- LittleBigPlanet PS Vita box art revealed, plus new trailer
- El33t's Question of the Day: What questions do you have for developers at E3 2012?
- Xbox LIVE Activity for week of May 14th: Minecraft overtakes Black Ops
- Skyrim gets mounted combat in next update
- Sleeping Dogs 101: High octane screens and trailer teach us the ropes
- The Arrival of Azmodan: A Desperate Plea to the Armies of Light
- Why is War fighting against Death in this Darksiders II screenshot?
- Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition Review
- Exclusive: Halo Infinity Multiplayer revealed for Halo 4, innovative online modes detailed
- Exclusive: Halo 4 Limited Edition announced with South African pricing and pre-order details
- CoD Elite members can cash in on Double XP now, but also welcome your new Call of Duty community manager
Comments:
That is a bit sad to hear. It looks like the superior game but would have been nice to get a hands-on session before making a decision as to which rugby game to get.
yeah - it looks like the developers are working overtime to make sure it gets released by the end of the 3rd quarter (as promised) so they probably felt they didn't have time to work on a demo before the game's release. i wouldn't be surprised if a demo is launched a few weeks after the release date, especially if sales are initially poor. i also think this looks like the better game, and this trailer attests to the fact that the gameplay is far more intricate than rugby world cup 2011. at least megarom are distributing rugby challenge in south africa so it will be properly promoted here, even though the south african team in the game are completely unlicensed, generic characters.
This game is gonna fail big time so its no loss lol. But quick question why is your guys FB page down? I just can't access it today and enjoy GamesCom btw
There are a lot of people that are looking for a decent (or even semi-decent :P) rugby game, sure it won't sell millions but there is a market for it.
@trebzz
i'm not sure why our facebook page is down. i'll let our editor lisa know right away. thanks for bringing it to our attention!
Yeah there is a market for all games if you think about it. What might seem as junk to us might be entertaining for the few guys out there but with a rugby WC game coming out so quick it does not make sense to me to go out and buy both of them. But once again thats just me
Most people won't buy both, and the fact that Challenge is releasing after the WC game is not good news for Tru Blu. But Challenge does look like the better game, so I hope their hard work will be rewarded by good sales(and then hopefully a sequel with more licenses added).
Just like there is a market for Fifa and PES there is also a market for 2 rugby games. And just like the Fifa vs. PES debate there will be champions for each of the games. But there is no reason for any of these to be called out as a failure until the results are in.
Agree, Ill probably end up getting both anyway.
But Rugby Challange is looking the more superior by a long way in my opinion. The tackling and breaking tackles animations are have really impressed me in the gameplay videos I've watched.
unfotunatly i bought rwc2011 and its pretty average, to have a rwc game but not have the license for the host country is really pretty pathetic. very much like EA's 2008 game its to predictable. im scepticle about tru blu because they developed the rugby league series and they are some of the worst games ever made. im hopeful that it will be good but i doubt it! (i hope im wrong).
I agree, once you know how to win in RWC 2011 its all pretty much the same thing...lack of modes and teams....not worth +-R500. Sad to say.
Played Rugby Challenge and its def the better of the two.