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.

 

[Cubs2Lions]

Enjoy Easter, I'm getting ready for the Footy.

On a unrelated note, did you watch last nights game BigAntStudios and JNT BA btw

 

[Nicho50]

See what happens when you put a rubbish fixture on Good Friday , people aren’t working and just complaining about when this game will come out.

 

[Wrenny]

I wonder if GOTHELIONS16 will create a team full of Chris Fagan's. A thing of nightmares

 

[Cubs2Lions]

I wonder if GOTHELIONS16 will create a team full of Chris Fagan's. A thing of nightmares

 

[GOTHELIONS16]

On a unrelated note, did you watch last nights game BigAntStudios and JNT BA btw

Big fan of this question

 

[BigAntStudios]

On a unrelated note, did you watch last nights game BigAntStudios and JNT BA btw

Flipping between that and the Storm game... pretty one-sided viewing wherever I looked.

 

[Cubs2Lions]

Big fan of this question

Big fan of our performance last night as well, better than last weeks debacle

 

[Cubs2Lions]

Flipping between that and the Storm game... pretty one-sided viewing wherever I looked.

Not as one-sided as when I will smash every opposition side by 100+ points during management mode

Great win by the Melbourne Storm boys as well

 

[Sixpence]

How about a Sports example, EA Golf anyone?... delayed two years, now announced weeks out from dropping, without any fanfare.

People behaving like this is an issue for Big Ant Studios alone.

Enjoy Easter, I'm getting ready for the Footy.

Who the **** it's going to get excited for a golf game?

"I can't wait to get in and customise my 9 iron!"

Though, I am now wondering if they have adjustable sock heights?

On another note, I actually don't mind the delay. Gives me time to smash out Burning Shores and Jedi Survivor.

 

[Michaels]

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.

I get what you're saying but that's just not how business works unfortunately.

The entire sporting good industry for example sell to retailers as a indent period for stock to arrive in future months.

Companies then place their purchase orders with factories based on the best possible info available to arrive by that first indent month.

But unfortunately shipping / freight has been volatile since covid so things can go wrong.

But setting a launch date before having stock is pretty much standard these days as its all planning based.

Its just shit and unlucky when things get delayed.

 

[Treehill23]

That was a pretty meaningless trailer that was essentially a feature list with some glimpses of shots/courses. The first footage of actual gameplay only came out the week before release.

The first gameplay video literally came out nearly 3 weeks ago
This is no comparison

 

[Cummdog3000]

This joints become a bloody dumpster fire since the delay announcement. If somebody came to me and said they didn’t understand why I’ve made the business decision to not pay 30%, to rush something out and damage relationships with my commercial retail partners I’d genuinely think they were mentally challenged. I agree it may not have been the perfecting marketing campaign up until this stage, but burning money and business relationships to keep the blokes on bigfooty happy would just be plain stupid.

Now that I’ve finished kissing backside….

Ross/JNT, I see you said you cannot comment on which legends or a number. Able to give us some eras we’ll be able to expect? 80s-now? Earlier, later? Will the streamers be limited on what they’re allowed to show when the content does come out?

 

[99 Problems]

The first gameplay video literally came out nearly 3 weeks ago
This is no comparison

The first video I can find of someone playing it was posted to the games YouTube channel last week.

 

[GOTHELIONS16]

A 3 week delay now means the release patches can address 3 weeks worth of initial issues/bug fixes needed within the game. So it’ll be a lot more polished when we get our hands on it, then it would’ve been next week.

Big ant have a big year of releases but this delay shouldn’t slow them down at all. They will be doing the same work on the game the next few weeks, they would have done if released next week.

Hopefully over next few weeks Big Ant will now be able to share extensive gameplay, and in depth look at the features so we can provide feedback before the release.

The game will feel polished on release for a nice change and include Star Team.

A real positive out of all this…

 

[andy_c91]

A 3 week delay now means the release patches can address 3 weeks worth of initial issues/bug fixes needed within the game. So it’ll be a lot more polished when we get our hands on it, then it would’ve been next week.

Big ant have a big year of releases but this delay shouldn’t slow them down at all. They will be doing the same work on the game the next few weeks, they would have done if released next week.

Hopefully over next few weeks Big Ant will now be able to share extensive gameplay, and in depth look at the features so we can provide feedback before the release.

The game will feel polished on release for a nice change and include Star Team.

A real positive out of all this…

Honestly I just hope that when gameplay footage does get released this forum just settles down and starts Again providing feedback to the game and suggestions to what can be improved and what can be added in the future. We are lucky that ba actively engages with the player bases.

 

[StoneyHawk]

For real, I think there's some people in here that could do with going outside once in a while.

Maybe also spend some time with a significant other

Mate it’s school holidays - what do you expect?


On iPhone using BigFooty.com mobile app

 

[Freo16]

Just had a thought while playing some FIFA today, I love the pre/post game press conferences and how they can affect team morale but I also like the idea of a similar system for addressing the playing group directly in coach career.
Maybe the press conferences affect your fan/public image while the team address has a more direct affect on team morale, if your team has a bad game, you can give them a spray in the rooms but be a bit more composed in the press conference

 

[jc12]

Delays and many years of development time are common in gaming. I don't know if you think the game won't be developed or improved on with delays. The game is already getting panned from that demo, so why wouldn't more development time be ideal?View attachment 1652139

lol so continued delays is great? we have literally heard give them an extra year or a few months for ages now, it sounds like a broken record.

you are okay with waiting another 5 years? hahahah

 

[StrappingTape]

I definitely agree that having no reviews before a launch isn't a great move, although I do think that people could easily wait a few days.

What I hate is when a review embargo is set for after the game launches. This isn't always a deliberate thing to avoid bad reviews, more a publisher aligning their embargo time with the US/Europe.

I think they'll want to work on it as much as possible before launch, delay or no delay, and with the delay they'll use every minute they've got to make it launch in the best possible state. If that comes at the expense of day one reviews then so be it. I do think review codes will be out before launch (maybe a day or two) but not enough lead time to do a full review.

Preview link: AFL 23 Represents A New Frontier For AFL Video Games

General rule any game where the review is on launch date or post is because they know it's shit or in a shite state. Not that I take much notice of reviews these days.

 

[Sub7ekjr]

For the record, there have been successful games released, that didn't have any notice on release. Apex Legends is the best example I can think of, dropped with less than a day's notice.

 

[GoldbergsGold]

lol so continued delays is great? we have literally heard give them an extra year or a few months for ages now, it sounds like a broken record.

you are okay with waiting another 5 years? hahahah

What continued delays? This is the first delay. I said hypothetically it'd be nice if they had another year or 2 of development. Games these days do in fact get 5 years of development, why would you shame a developer for taking their time? A rushed game is usually bad.

 

[MadMundy]

Oi nah who deleted my comment

 

[GoldbergsGold]

Oi nah who deleted my comment

"Posting videos from "that" YouTuber (you know the one) just to poke fun at them" mod did.

 

[MadMundy]

"Posting videos from "that" YouTuber (you know the one) just to poke fun at them" mod did.

I didn't see that, my bad.

 

[Wormkilla]

Was the management side of things decent in the last game? Ie: drafts, realistic sim results