Sociable Soccer, the spiritual successor to much-loved footy classic Sensible Soccer, was due to get its first run out in Early Access this week, but it’s picked up an ankle sprain in training and needs a week to recover. It will now strap on its shin pads on Thursday, October 19th.
The development team, headed up by Sensible Soccer co-designer Jon Hare, put out an announcement on Thursday apologising for the delay. “We’ve been working non-stop for the last few months getting Sociable Soccer ready for Steam Early Access. Unfortunately we have hit a last minute bump in the road which means that Sociable Soccer will sadly not be released today on Steam.
“We can say with confidence, though, that Sociable Soccer will now be coming to Early Access next week. The team is extremely disappointed that you won’t be able to play the game today but feel the wait will be worth it. Please hang in there with us, as we close in on releasing the first chapter of the greatest arcade football action game you’ve ever played.”
You may recall that the team launched a Kickstarter in 2015 but pulled the plug on it less than a month later after raising only 10% of its goal. However, the game kicked on and is still due to release next year.
The lack of Kickstarter interest was a real surprise to me—I expected it to be carried by a wave of nostalgia. The 1992 PC, Amiga and Atari ST original was a top-down, stripped back version of the beautiful game, and in this spiritual sequel you can choose between that view and a side-on ‘dynamic’ camera more akin to FIFA or Pro Evolution Soccer.
The arcade feel and fast pace will remain, and you’ll take to the pitch in one of 67 full international, real world leagues cups and tournaments.
The Steam page is here.