Gaming
Games
Let's start taking Aussie sports games seriously
In the wake of AFL Evolution and its subsequent release, alongside the announcement of Rugby League Live 4, but a history of subpar sports games in Oz, it's time we take our sports games seriously
EA Sports, 2K Sports -- we’re looking at you.
For years it has been suggested that large publishers like EA or 2K can’t jump into the local sports videogame ring because of inherent risks around the high cost of development against a potentially low return of investment, given the size of our population, and the small percentage of those who’d buy into any such endeavour.
It’s been local publisher Tru Blu Games then who’s taken on the publisher mantle, with developers Wicked Witch and Big Ant Studios, respectively, looking after development of the two examples mentioned in our lead-in. There’s some value in this, given our local games are being handled by local companies; it’s romantic, in a way. But it’s not pushing each sports’ representations to the polished levels we expect in this day and age. That’s not entirely a slight on those local companies who’ve taken on the responsibility of bringing us our great national sports in videogame form, but there are some harsh realities around how this system works, and why it ultimately fails. And it needs to be addressed if these games are to compete for the minds of potential superstars in our national codes, against the likes of FIFA and NBA 2K, for example.
It is a fun game, but needs WAY more polish
© Wicked Witch
The Misconception
There’s a fundamental misconception about how Australia ‘games’. A lot of the pushback against the idea our national sports can be developed to Triple-A standards is built off industry misunderstandings, which thwart risk-taking and therefore the potential to put the decision in the hands of the punter for affirmation to the larger companies, or those suggesting their involvement isn’t possible. This thinking also likely aligns with the AFL and the NRL, but for now with AFL Evolution out in the wild, let’s focus on it.
For the year of 2016, the IGEA released its national findings on how Australia consumes interactive media and the results are in the positive, when you stack them against the rest of our arguments here for why the archaic model of thinking around Aussie sports not being able to break the Triple-A ceiling are just that: old and out of date.
98% of households in Australia with children have videogames. 65% of households have at least three platforms for gaming. 33 years-old is the average age of gamers in Australia, largely because they have the most disposable income -- this fact will become important later. 47% of Australian gamers are female. The AFL just enjoyed a massively successful launch of the AFL Women's Competition -- another factor that will become important later on. But in short, Australia ‘games’, and the numbers are very high with access to various forms of gaming keeping the population plugged into the interactive digital space.
More budget even on grass textures would be nice
© Wicked Witch
AFL Numbers
The AFL announced that 2016 was the competition’s most successful year with attendance up, ratings up and urban participation up on previous years, across the country. Auskick is the grassroots program for kids, while AFL9s -- the AFL’s version of “touch footy” -- also enjoyed greater interest, presenting a place for anyone not tied to a more professional or official club environment with an option to get their AFL on, or for little ones to start their AFL sporting rise. To contextualise from a participation and growing interest perspective, total live game attendance for the year was 6,870,241 with an average of 33,190 per game. The Grand Final between the Western Bulldogs and the Sydney Swans saw 99,981 people witness history as the Bulldogs won their first Premiership in 62 years. 3.4 million viewers also watched this historic event on free-to-air TV -- the largest TV audience of any of our football codes.
Moreover, this weekend just gone saw the largest Saturday night attendance for a home and away game at the MCG during Sir Doug Nicholls Indigenous Round between Essendon and Richmond with a crowd number of 85,656.
In 2015, the AFL signed a record media rights deal with Rupert Murdoch worth $2.5 billion dollars. The deal went into effect at the close of the 2016 season and is set to run through until 2022. It’s up more than 50% up on the previous deal which was worth, annually, around $250 million a year with this new deal being worth an estimated $418 million a year. The deal itself is just one part of the funds the AFL accrues, however, but stands as a representation of not just the growth of the game, but in its investment potential given the product on display in modern footy.
Is Josh Kelly worth $9 million a year?
© Wicked Witch
Adding to this, the AFL recently bought Etihad Stadium for a miserly $150 - $200 million dollars, despite the fact that they would have been able to buy it for just $30 dollars (yep, the price of going to the movies nowadays), in 2025. They did this, however, because they understood the return of investment from an ownership perspective, and not only now help the teams who call the ground home, with better run, more in-line initiatives to get more bums in seats. They are also proactively looking to expand its uses beyond AFL games and basic concerts with a recent report highlighting they were looking into it becoming a major hub for esports in Australia. Considering this position alongside the recent news that the Adelaide Crows has become the first major sporting organisation in Australia to buy into esports by acquiring League of Legends locals, Legacy, and you can see a new thread beginning to unravel. Gaming, it seems, is heavily on the AFL’s radar and, more importantly, something they’re more than willing to invest in.
The Sales Affirmation Problem
When you’re the only AFL game in the world and, more importantly, in this country, then you have no competition which is currently reflected in how well the game is selling, despite its myriad shortcomings. It's honestly a mess of a game wrapped in a decent overall presentation with some great gameplay ideas, but has waged war on other recent releases in Australia by topping local sales charts for the past three weeks. You can currently buy the game at JB Hi Fi for around AUD$80, while EB Games has it listed at AUD$99.95. So punters are paying full price for a game that is riddled with bugs and lacks the polish we’ve been alluding to throughout this piece, and yet it’s still selling.
It just doesn't deliver visually the way it should
© Wicked Witch
This is both good and bad. On the one hand, it shows there’s a desire for an AFL videogame in the modern gaming and AFL supporter landscape, meaning that earlier-mentioned risk of ROI is likely a thing of the past. On the other, it’s affirmation that more money doesn’t need to be invested in the product, because it moves units regardless of quality. To be fair, this talk of quality isn’t meant to be a direct stab at developer Wicked Witch, but there’s a clear lack of budget and experience in the field, and it’s in this area we’re confident the pipelines, infrastructure and knowledge of sports games in general, the likes of those developed and published by EA and 2K could bring to the table, that would help make this a more palatable and successful product. To put it simply, if there’s already evidence of people champing at the bit for the game, but it finds itself nestled uncomfortably in a Reddit thread discussing how bad it actually is to play after it’s released, then there’s room for an even bigger ROI with the right amount of development polish, marketing and PR love.
The Local Development Barrier
So with the above, there’s a question around whether the game should be made here in the first place with smaller teams and equally small budgets, in comparison to other Triple-A sporting ventures. But we’re not suggesting EA or 2K, if they ever got involved, need to look -- or develop -- elsewhere. In fact, it would make for a better local development story if one of these major publishers took a studio like Wicked Witch under their wing and helped them. We mentioned pipelines and infrastructure earlier, and as an example, a publisher like EA could come in with their already established Frostbite game-engine, tweaked from its most recent FIFA restructuring, and with a support team in tow to help the likes of Wicked Witch not only build a better game than the one we currently have, but to expand their own skillset.
It'll be a long time before Carlton is 3rd
© Wicked Witch
Why EA Sports or 2K Games?
The developers could also still remain largely independent, but have the support they need from one of the big two. The AFL or NRL would need to come on board to mitigate some of the development risk involved, but EA is no stranger to Australian sports representation among its brands. FIFA famously and successfully added our very own A-League to its league roster (an initiative helped largely because a few key Aussies worked tirelessly behind the scenes to make it happen). They have a big office in Australia and the EA Sports brand alone would infinitely help any AFL product being pushed out under it, likely resulting in larger sales on brand recognition alone. In fact EA’s current CEO, Andrew Wilson, is a proud Australian who essentially started his tenure at the company with EA Sports before being named global CEO of Electronic Arts in 2013. And as mentioned above, the infrastructure, knowhow, knowledge and Aussie sports association are all there -- there’s very little on the surface that could -- or should -- stop this from happening.
2K Sports (or more specifically 2K) on the other hand have already had experience running a development studio out of Australia, and while that studio is now shuttered, that experience hasn’t gone anywhere. The NBA 2K series of games are consistently in the top selling sports games in Australia, and the team has a knack for flair -- something the AFL is attempting to become more consistent in themselves as the way our game is played and represented, both on and off the field, is in constant evolution (see what we did there). They also have a fantastic game-engine that has made NBA 2K arguably the videogame sporting benchmark as far as visual fidelity and control goes. It would also be another feather in the 2K Sports cap against their key rival, EA. But we’re getting ahead of ourselves here.
Where exactly do the Roos sit this year?
© Wicked Witch
Conclusion
Tru Blu Games, Big Ant Studios and Wicked Witch have done well to carry publishing and developing mantles for many of our sports games over the years, but we’re in an age of quality requirement. Technology and gaming platforms are now more powerful, and more accessible. Gamers aren’t naive anymore, either. They know what’s available, and what’s capable in the right hands as far as quality goes, and given the examples of growth and popularity in AFL alone mentioned earlier, gaming and our own sporting love are getting closer and closer, and go more hand-in-hand. Women are participating across both fields and the average gamer has more disposable income than ever before. More families are gaming together, which means the kids the AFL and NRL are fighting to have on their grassroots sides are spoilt for choice, but when those choices are subpar compared to monster franchises like FIFA or NBA 2K, you wind up with a snake eating its own tale scenario.
If our codes are serious about expansion, and about embracing an ever-evolving digital future while reaping their own benefits through code growth and larger media investment, videogame development and investment should be taken just as seriously. It would be a great boon for our local developers if they could work with larger brands and names, with bigger budgets and more experience to engage our passionate fans, and our emerging fans and stars.
It really is time we started taking -- and making -- Aussie sports games more seriously.
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