***Update 1 – 2015-11-18 – 18:05 CET***

By Jon Hare November 18, 2015

London, UK — Here is a summary of the progress made to date regarding Jon Hare’s Sociable Soccer the new football title for PC, Xbox One and Playstation 4 on Kickstarter

Our thoughts and prayers go to Paris and France.

GAME MODES
“Sociable Soccer’s gameplay is getting crisper by the day and we have been busy fleshing out the details of game modes and teams. The game will have many game modes” – Jon Hare

The three main ways of playing the game are Single Player Mode, Classic Local Multiplayer (2 – 8 players) and Online Multiplayer.

The competitions for both single player and local multiplayer feature player and AI teams include the following competitions:- a Friendly match Series, Leagues from England x 4, Spain x 2, Italy x 2, Germany x 2, France, Netherlands & Scotland, plus numerous international club & national team tournaments. There will also be the opportunity to make your own DIY Cups, Leagues and Tournaments for up to 24 teams on one machine.

Even the concept art for “Sociable Soccer” looks really cool.

ONLINE MULTIPLAYER
When a player first load up Sociable Soccer it will ask him for his name, nationality and favourite team, then ask him to create a 3D player avatar in his own likeness and choose a clan to join (clans like “Surfboarders”, “Biology Students” or “Angry Old Men”) By doing this the player join three different online teams instantly. ie England (Nation), Liverpool (Club) and Angry Old Men (Clan). Whenever online the player will be given a selection of instantly available online ladder league matches, not in a lobbying system, but via a match making system based on the teams played for and opponents available. Top players will see their player avatars called up to play for their club or country alongside their real life sporting heroes. Weekly promotion and relegation and special tournaments by invitation only will also feature.

KICKSTARTER.COM
“Sociable Soccer for PC, Xbox One and Playstation 4 is one of the most supported video games on kickstarter right now, however we are still quite a long way off of our target with 24 days to go. So if you have any desire to want to play the beautiful game the sociable way please visit and pledge at the Sociable Soccer page on kickstarter Thank You” Jon Hare
Link to Sociable Soccer Kickstarter page is here http://kck.st/1WPdg5f

About Jon Hare
Jon Hare is one of Europe’s most respected game designers and co-founder of legendary UK developer Sensible Software. His games include 10 #1 hits such as Sensible World of Soccer, Cannon Fodder & Wizball. In recent years, Jon has designed and developed numerous sports titles including Mike Tyson Boxing, Real World Golf, British Lions Rugby and Speedball 2 HD.

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Press release:
Sociable Soccer is an instantly playable football game for football fans all over the World, designed and directed by Jon Hare, the man behind Sensible World of Soccer – the best-selling football game of the 1990s. The game will be crafted with the same meticulous attention to detail as the very finest Sensible Software titles, to deliver a peerless gameplay experience across all platforms.

“A community of approximately 20 million fans worldwide have played the soccer games I have designed. I’m thrilled to return to the genre and look forward to delivering a game which once again raises the bar the soccer videogames.” – Jon Hare

Sociable Soccer will bring fast paced, arcade style football games up to date with online multiplayer mode, customisable player avatars, and clan based online leagues. The game will feature over 500 National, Club and Custom teams including over 10,000 named players. You can play online multiplayer matches whenever you want, representing your own Country, favourite Club or chosen Clan in an endless series of matches.

The game will be developed, under Jon Hare’s guidance, by a crack team of triple-A developers previously involved in creating games like Max Payne, Alan Wake and The Walking Dead: No Man’s Land.

“For years I have been planning the spiritual successor to Sensible Soccer. Competing with FIFA and Pro Evo 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” – Jon Hare

The team is looking to raise £300,000 on Kickstarter to create Sociable Soccer, and is offering a range of rewards to backers, including: early beta access, chances to create permanent Custom teams, having your name in the credits as a supporter of your favourite club and the opportunity to jump into a Finnish ice lake with Jon Hare and the Sociable Soccer team.

Sociable Soccer will be released for PC (including Steam), Xbox One and PlayStation 4 in late 2016. An exclusive early access beta version of the game (downloadable on PC) will be distributed to all backers who pledge £30 and above one month prior to general release.

Jon Hare
One of Europe’s most respected game designers and co-founder of Sensible Software . Jon Hare has designed 10 number one games over his 30 year career including Sensible World of Soccer, Cannon Fodder and Wizball. Jon has also designed and developed numerous sports titles including Mike Tyson Boxing, Real World Golf, British Lions Rugby and Speedball 2 HD.

Jon is also the songwriter behind ‘Goalscoringsuperstarhero’, a song which first featured in Sensible World of Soccer. Recently remixed by his new teammate, hit record producer Sami Arola, the song will feature as the title track for Sociable Soccer and is available for all backers who pledge £20 and over.

The Team
Sami Vanhatalo founded a small game studio in a basement together with friends in 1995. That studio is now known to the world as Remedy Entertainment and continues to work on some of the biggest triple-A titles on the planet. Sami is best recognised as the Lead Technical Artist on the landmark titles Max Payne and Alan Wake, both of which received countless games industry accolades. Sami is also known for his demo scene background and his fondness for cats.

Jouni Mannonen decided to become a game developer when he was just 10 years old. Growing up on a steady diet of Amiga games and assembly language programming he’s been creating games and 3D game engines professionally since 1994. His first company was acquired by Nvidia, and most recently he co-founded Mountain Sheep, creator of several number one hits on digital platforms including Death Rally, Bike Baron and Ice Rage. Sensible Soccer is the only sports game he really likes.

Sami Arola is the co-founder of Finnish developer Sumea which was later assimilated into Digital Chocolate and went on to create dozens of mobile games and rack up over 200 awards including 9 IGN ‘Wireless Game of the Year’ and ‘Best Developer’ accolades. Sami worked at Digital Chocolate until 2009 as a technical architect responsible for research and development, but then returned to his indie roots making small games. Sami leads a dual life writing game code during the day and producing music at night, which is why he never gets any sleep.

Amar Djouad is a French born comic book artist who migrated to Finland for love and got drafted into the booming video game industry. His art and concept work is most visible in games like Super Stardust Delta and Dead Nation from Housemarque, and also the very recent, number one charting zombie epic The Walking Dead: No Man’s Land from Next Games. Amar is taller than anyone else on the development team and practices martial arts, making him a really good guy to know in the event of a zombie apocalypse.

Robin “V-Act” Ek
The Gaming Ground
Twitter: @TheGamingGround