The wait goes on for Rugby 24, with the much-anticipated game now delayed three times from its originally planned release.
It's been a fair old time since we got a decent rugby game - Jonah Lomu Challenge was decent, though not superb, and that game was released almost 13 years ago now.
Rugby fans thought they might finally get their hands on a game of genuine quality when Rugby 24 was first announced, with a planned release ahead of last year's World Cup in France.
Shortly before the tournament, with little to no sign of progress on the game, it was confirmed that the planned release date would be pushed back to January 2024. That then became an early access release in March. And then that too came and went with no sign of Rugby 24.
The reason given for the persistent delays was issues with licensing and player likenesses, with fans fearing the worst for any future release for the game. Thankfully, we've been given a positive update from the developers at Big Ant Studios.
READ HERE: McCabe And Haaland Headline EA Sports FC 24 PL And WSL TOTS
READ HERE: Ulster Star Baffled By Eben Etzebeth's Claims About 'Arrogant' Irish Comments
Squidge Rugby gives update on progress of Rugby 24
In an exclusive feature, acclaimed YouTuber Squidge Rugby travelled to the HQ of Big Ant Studios to meet CEO Ross Symons and get the inside track on Rugby 24's development.
The seven-minute feature gave an insight into just how much work goes into creating player likenesses, with scans taking up to a week to complete.
Symons then revealed that the time constraints of developing player likenesses - coupled with limited access to said players - were the reasons behind the game's delay.
Over time what we do is we normally take three to seven days to get a face in game and get it looking just right.
Our first capture was of New Zealand 18 months ago. Now, the issue is that we've now captured England three times because there's always something - there's a World Cup, there's a Six Nations - so they don't give us access to the players. That delays the game.
We've got a reasonable game, that is reasonably good to play - we can't wait to get it to early access so that people give us feedback.
If we want to compete with NBA [2K] where a kid goes in and gets every NBA player, or EA FC, where a kid goes in and gets every player, you can't explain to a kid, 'oh, it's a licensing issue.'
Symons said that his desire was to be the first rugby game ever to have "every" team in, with 140 nations onboard with both male and female teams to feature.
He went on to accept that fans may be growing impatient but encouraged them to have faith in the development team.
We've already been on the road for weeks, it's got months to go just to get the content. People have been patient, they're going to need to be more patient. It's going to be worth it in the end.
We can only hope that when Rugby 24 does finally land, it will have been worth the wait.
SEE ALSO: From Powerwash Simulator To House Flipper 2: 5 Oddly Satisfying Video Games
