Multiplat AFL 23 - PS/Steam Releasing May 4, Xbox TBC

[Dannnnnnnnnn]

WHEN CAN I PLAY? READ BELOW:

• PlayStation (Physical): Thursday 4 May
• PlayStation (Digital): 8:01am AEST Thursday 4 May
• Steam: Currently 8:01am AEST Thursday 4 May, may be moved to 12:01am AEST
• Xbox (Digital or Physical): TO BE CONFIRMED, unlikely to be 4 May

Spoiler: Specific Big Ant quotes about the release:

Those that pre-ordered PS versions will be able to play on Thursday, disks will have already been mailed by retailers, they will also be available in-store.

Steam will also be available Thursday.

Stating the obvious, we are still having issues with XBox.

Seriously, anyone that looks hard knows there’s issues - why do you think there are so many exclusives for a particular platform that are not marked as exclusive, but are only on that platform.

If I took that road, life would have been a lot easier.

Xbox digital and retail will release at the same time - that is not a decision we get to make.

It applies now and I will no doubt pay a price.

Spoiler: Other Quotes

Re: commentary team

Spoiler: Other Quotes

Hamish is still there, Daisy didn't make it into the final version of the game.

We added Gary and increased the workload of Harf.

Re: game availability/release dates

I can never give 100% guarantee about anything in the future, but as it stands today, the statement I am prepared to make it that all stock that is at retailers on 4 May will be available for sale.

As to the amount that will be there for sale, and whether it is enough, that is a question I cannot answer.

It will be made digitally available on the various platform holder electronic stores.

Clarifying, the game will not release prior to 4 May 2023.

I am vague as there is one platform that has had sufficient stock at retailers and the other has not, and I cannot name them (contractual reasons).

The game will not be further delayed because of the numbers of units in stock.

Re: Steam listing

I've already put in a request for the screenshots to be replaced with current ones, they'll probably only be there for a day.

As much as the feedback has generally been positive, these are old, meant to be placeholder only and were not meant to go live.

Re: playing lists

All playing lists are accurate for the 2023 season.

Re: content creator footage

This is all prior to day one patch (as some have noted updates like numbers etc are apparent)

Re: Career mode

A head's up on Career mode.

At the AFL 23 Launch night I mentioned the non-team based Individual Career Mode in an interview with Dean (Twistie3). As alluded to at that same event, we were working with the AFL and AFLPA to include as many past legends in the game as possible.

The great news is that we have received approval for far more AFL legends than were previously envisaged, but this has meant that we had to make the tough decision to divert resources away from the Individual Career mode development. The individual Career Mode function will not make it into AFL 23, Career Mode will be entirely team based. I expect this mode to be include in future iterations of the game.

Re: microtransactions

You do not have to make purchases, things can be earned.

Re: general development

So fundamentally flawed, in so many ways, it’s bananas.

We are doing AFL as it’s a passion project, without us doing it there would not be one being made.

So much more upside with making games that are played internationally, let alone one that will not even be played in every state in this country.

 

[Bianconeri]

The motion capturing that wasn't in the previous WW games isn't a clear indication of progression?

We’re yet see how the motion capture effects anything

 

[GoldbergsGold]

We’re yet see how the motion capture effects anything

The players move at the football, this time, when the ball is to be won. The movement is more fluid, besides a few areas. Definitely look at the demo gameplay some more.

 

[Treehill23]

I really don't think many companies would run the gauntlet of putting a half baked game on disk after seeing the bottom out of cyberpunk.

Surely they are almost the exception and not the rule.

Cricket 22 and AO Tennis
Seriously though, Cyberpunk is a special case for sure, but there’s definitely been some sketchy releases that I’ve experienced
Battlefield 2044 (or whatever the year was) is another that springs to mind
This isn’t a rare case anymore, unfortunately

 

[Ambrose Burnside]

Jesus yeah I mean at this stage a game that isn't a complete shitshow at launch is a miracle.

Whatever checks they have to pass to be whacked on a disc must be lenient as ****. Does it cause the console to spontaneously combust? No? Ok it passes.

Even Nintendo aren't immune these days with the newer Pokemon games running like absolute arse.

 

[George]

The only logical reason for them to not offer it digitally in the meantime is they are worried that the game is shit and will affect sales come 4th May.

If people have access to the game earlier (13th as opposed to 4th May), those playing it will put up content highlighting how poor it is and then nobody else will purchase it on the 4th.

That's what I reckon anyway. It's a huge red flag that there's no gameplay and that they don't want 75% of people to have a chance at sharing gameplay before the other 25% have a chance to purchase it.

 

[Bianconeri]

The players move at the football, this time, when the ball is to be won. The movement is more fluid, besides a few areas. Definitely look at the demo gameplay some more.

Any footage of this not recorded from an iPhone?

 

[Ambrose Burnside]

The only logical reason for them to not offer it digitally in the meantime is they are worried that the game is s**t and will affect sales come 4th May.

If people have access to the game earlier (13th as opposed to 4th May), those playing it will put up content highlighting how poor it is and then nobody else will purchase it on the 4th.

That's what I reckon anyway. It's a huge red flag that there's no gameplay and that they don't want 75% of people to have a chance at sharing gameplay before the other 25% have a chance to purchase it.

Yeah, I mean if the game is ready and they are happy for the version that's on disc now to be the version released if only the Xbox version was in the country, then there should be no reason we won't see reviews next week when the game was supposed to have been launched.

Right?

 

[GOTHELIONS16]

Ideally, I would prefer 1-2 more years of development. I think they've probably only had around 2 years at most of development time, which I don't think is enough time, especially these days, most games get more than 2 years of development time, and with it being such a huge and convoluted sport to adapt, a small team would need loads of time. We don't want yet another incomplete footy game, the bitter and impatient people can already select from a large library of those underdone footy titles. I think for us fanatics of the sport, we'd like to see a complete sim, even if it takes much more time.

That’s what sequels are for. AFL25. Ill remind you the game will be improved from AFL LIVE as this is a passion project which the team have been chipping away at for years before they got the license. I’ll also remind you this game has 5x the budget of any Australian made sports video game in history. This will easily be better than any afl video game before it. I’ll also remind you the longer amount of working hours they spend on it, the more of the budget they’ll have to spend which is away from the actual game quality. Games with 4+ years of serious time spent on it will be justified by the huge target of people. An AFL game does not have this. So what you are saying has flaws and is a serious NO.

This game won’t be perfect, but it will be a HUGE improvement on past games. And for us fanatics, that is something we would all like to see.

 

[berisha]

I've cut out all the FIFA stuff cos that wasn't really relevant to anything.

Gameplay modes? Before the delay, at the reveal, star mode or whatever it's called wasn't going to be there at launch. Or at least unlikely to be there. Now it will be there. So that's something.

It's not a case of ok we now have an extra three weeks let's add all this new stuff, it's more like based on everything we've seen (and haven't seen), the 13th was never a realistic launch date to begin with.

I'm not arguing a delay is a bad thing (as I've repeated ad nauseum , everyone here wants the best game possible) nor am I demanding that Big Ant gimme the game now now now, all I'm saying is that people here (notably Quivorir ) predicted this ages ago, given how secretive everything has been (no gameplay footage is absolute madness and a giant red flag this close to the supposed launch no matter which way it's spun), and how selective Big Ant have been with answering fairly innocuous questions about the actual gameplay.

Leading into the delay, accepting the lack of anything concrete, I feel a lot of people have had their head buried in the sand over what we've been shown so far, giving Big Ant far more leeway than their track record would otherwise permit.

Or maybe they're just the unluckiest developers ever?

I disagree the FIFA stuff isn't relevant because, and I stress that this is not really directed at people here, when they do show gameplay, there will be people who will slam it for not being FIFA-level quality. So I would no doubt assume that this is part of the reason why Big Ant, the AFL, Nacon, whoever has the final say haven't given the green light to show anything off officially as of yet.

Also to say it's been secretive is incorrect because there is footage out there. If they were really THAT concerned about footage then we wouldn't have been allowed to capture anything. I was recently in Sydney to play Redfall for preview and capture was forbidden, I played Dead Island 2 for preview and capture wasn't allowed.

You're more than welcome to be sceptical given how some games have launched over the years, but again, no one is forcing you to buy it day one.

Whether Star Team was going to be at launch or wasn't it doesn't really matter now because with the new date it is. Also, to say it wasn't a realistic date is wrong because I know multiple people working at JBs where the stock is sitting there in the storeroom.

Do we not remember their last couple of launches ?

If you ask this question, why are you not surprised we haven't seen anything? The game is going to be coming in hot like others before it, and as I've actually played the game at the launch event, I'm not shocked that we haven't seen it. I'm not saying that because I think it's bad (I don't, I think it's going to be the best we've had), I'm saying that because I'm a realist and it's the nature of the beast with AFL games. Big Ant is damned if they do, damned if they don't.

I'm not really here to argue with anyone as I know deep down we're on all on the same side and want the best for the game.

 

[GoldbergsGold]

That’s what sequels are for. AFL25. Ill remind you the game will be improved from AFL LIVE as this is a passion project which the team have been chipping away at for years before they got the license. I’ll also remind you this game has 5x the budget of any Australian made sports video game in history. This will easily be better than any afl video game before it. I’ll also remind you the longer amount of working hours they spend on it, the more of the budget they’ll have to spend which is away from the actual game quality. Games with 4+ years of serious time spent on it will be justified by the huge target of people. An AFL game does not have this. So what you are saying has flaws and is a serious NO.

This game won’t be perfect, but it will be a HUGE improvement on past games. And for us fanatics, that is something we would all like to see.

Well, that's what I'm thinking their strategy is. To release a game with missing aspects of the sport, like all the others, then gradually introduce them into future sequels. A bit disappointing, because I feel like had they worked on the gameplay more, we could have had them in this iteration.

 

[berisha]

Yeah, I mean if the game is ready and they are happy for the version that's on disc now to be the version released if only the Xbox version was in the country, then there should be no reason we won't see reviews next week when the game was supposed to have been launched.

Right?

I'd be surprised if we got reviews before launch to be honest

 

[Ambrose Burnside]

I'm not really here to argue with anyone as I know deep down we're on all on the same side and want the best for the game.

 

[GOTHELIONS16]

Let's be honest, people are sour over the delay, but that demo was mostly crucified, so why would people be against extra development time? Mostly it's been from people, "The game demo was bad, but release the game asap anyway." Strange reasoning.

You don’t seem to get the demo was an early ‘Frankenstein’ build which was incomplete and is in great contrast to the finished product

 

[Ambrose Burnside]

I'd be surprised if we got reviews before launch to be honest

We won't get any next week but none before launch at all is the biggest red flag of them all.

 

[berisha]

We won't get any next week but none before launch at all is the biggest red flag of them all.

As someone who's been reviewing games for nearly 10 years this is usually the case, but with AFL 23 I reckon it's simply a case of them working on it until the last possible second. They won't be last developer to do this.

 

[99 Problems]

It would make no business sense to release digital only when the discs have already been printed, are shipping and due at retailers. They would lose significant value straight away. On top of that aren’t they releasing 3 more games this year? How would dealing with retailers go in the future after screwing them over in this case? No idea if there’s also contractual issues around releasing physical earlier on one console and not the other in dealing with Xbox/PS.

Making no comment on the actual quality or status of the game itself currently, but it could be a 10/10 masterpiece and it would still be insane to release digital only next week at this point.

 

[ajhgcs]

The only logical reason for them to not offer it digitally in the meantime is they are worried that the game is s**t and will affect sales come 4th May.

If people have access to the game earlier (13th as opposed to 4th May), those playing it will put up content highlighting how poor it is and then nobody else will purchase it on the 4th.

That's what I reckon anyway. It's a huge red flag that there's no gameplay and that they don't want 75% of people to have a chance at sharing gameplay before the other 25% have a chance to purchase it.

If they release it as digital only now they risk hurting their relationship with retailers.

 

[George]

Yeah, I mean if the game is ready and they are happy for the version that's on disc now to be the version released if only the Xbox version was in the country, then there should be no reason we won't see reviews next week when the game was supposed to have been launched.

Right?

That's what I thought too. If you are confident that you have a quality product then it shouldn't matter who gets it earlier. They've put a blanket over anything gameplay related and that is concerning.

Why set a release date if you knew you hadn't physically received the copies? It makes little sense to me other than the game is simply not ready and they are trying to stop anyone from seeing that and spreading the information as it'll affect sales.

 

[itsapitapitacake]

The only logical reason for them to not offer it digitally in the meantime is they are worried that the game is s**t and will affect sales come 4th May.

If people have access to the game earlier (13th as opposed to 4th May), those playing it will put up content highlighting how poor it is and then nobody else will purchase it on the 4th.

That's what I reckon anyway. It's a huge red flag that there's no gameplay and that they don't want 75% of people to have a chance at sharing gameplay before the other 25% have a chance to purchase it.

I don’t know much about this stuff but I would’ve thought that the reasoning was because if it’s accessible digitally it would hamper retail stores sales that are stocking the game, because not many people are gonna bother buying the game in store if it’s available online weeks before. Then that would negatively affect big ants relationship with those retail stores because they’re not getting the sales they expect

 

[George]

If they release it as digital only now they risk hurting their relationship with retailers.

I'd probably agree if not for that it seems they are hiding the game from the consumer.

 

[Ambrose Burnside]

As someone who's been reviewing games for nearly 10 years this is usually the case, but with AFL 23 I reckon it's simply a case of them working on it until the last possible second. They won't be last developer to do this.

Yeah appreciate that and I think it was your preview that I liked the most because I felt it gave us the fullest picture, I think it was the only one to really talk about how the reveal build's tacklefest hasn't really evolved from AFL Live (could you please share it again?)

But the idea of no reviews before launch because they're working on it until the last second (which is now three weeks longer than originally stated), does fit with my suspicion that the 13th wasn't a realistic release date. It's also never a good thing for games to be on shelves without any reviews to guide shoppers regardless of the reasoning behind it.

 

[BigAntStudios]

Yeah, totally hiding everything and putting guns to heads so people have to purchase unseen.

There will be play sessions prior, or here's a thought - if in doubt - purchase after release, after everyone has reported upon it.

 

[Michaels]

I'd probably agree if not for that it seems they are hiding the game from the consumer.

If they were hiding it they wouldn't have allowed captured footage on a Frankenstein build the other week?

Stores already have ps5 disks, the game Is done.

I can't imagine much more could even be added in 2-3 weeks even if they wanted to.

I do agree though that the sooner we see some fully fledged game play the better as I think this will ease a lot of the concerns.

 

[Ambrose Burnside]

I do agree though that the sooner we see some fully fledged game play the better as I think this will ease a lot of the concerns.

That's what most people are saying

 

[haydo]

Time to un-watch this thread for the next month I think. We’re going around in circles with the same questions being asked and the same answer being given in response.

Gonna be a massive shit fight in here for the next month and I won’t blame BigAntStudios if he logged off from BF until release date. You work your ass off for what seems to be many many years, working 12 hour days, nights, weekends and even public holidays (like today) on a game that will give us, the general AFL fan a video game to enjoy yet they come on here daily getting their ass chewed out by the same trolls and the same bullshit. I applaud Ross for coming in here trying to explain things, however let’s give him a break and let him enjoy his Easter weekend. The game will be released on the 4th May, let’s just wait until then, enjoy some playable sessions at some retailers next week by the sounds of it and just move on.