We now have out first look at the Wicked Witch-developed AFL Evolution, but with less than two weeks before the 2017 season kicks off, we still don’t have a release date, features list, or even a glimpse of gameplay.
The first “trailer” — if you can call it that — also has a slightly off version of Richmond’s theme song: the beginning tune is completely different to the original theme.
AFL Evolution was ousted by the Classification Board back in October, but we didn’t hear anything else about the title at the time, and for the past few months we’ve waited patiently for an update.
We eventually got word straight from the AFL that AFL Evolution would hit Xbox One, PS4 and PC in 2017, and that, as expected, it was coming from the folks at Wicked Witch Software.
However, three months on from that announcement, and all we’ve received since is a trailer of questionable origin: it looks like something from the PS2 era.
The Melbourne-based studio has a long history in mobile development but has also developed a number of AFL games for console, most recently AFL Live 2 for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.
The series started with AFL Live back in 2011, and was developed by Big Ant Software. It switched over to Wicked Witch for the second iteration, with the studio having previously worked on PSP, DS, iPad and Wii AFL games.
While AFL games have historically been met negatively by critics, they tend to generate a lot of interest from a large fanbase that passionately supports Australia’s largest professional sport.
“This generation of AFL footballers grew up playing video games and this is an opportunity to feature in one that’s sure to have footy fans highly engaged,” AFL Players’ Association GM Rebecca Chitty said.
“Digital is an ever-evolving space and the players see this as just another way to grow the game by reaching out to new audiences and showcasing it on different platforms.”
“We are extremely proud to be releasing another AFL video game. We have produced a number of games across console, PC and mobile platforms and we’re determined to make AFL Evolution the most enjoyable AFL video game we have released,” said Sebastian Giompaolo of Tru Blu Entertainment, the game’s distributor.
Take a look at the first “trailer” for the game below. What are your thoughts?