Sociable Soccer's Jon Hare says real player names are "vital" as studio secures FIFPRO licence
Indie arcade-style football game will feature 13,000 real-world players at launch next month, with more to be added later
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Securing real footballers' names and likenesses is essential to the success of any title dedicated to the sport.
That's according to Tower Studios CEO and creative director Jon Hare, best known as the designer of the classic Sensible Soccer series.
His spiritual successor, Sociable Soccer 24, launches next month and Tower has announced this week that it has secured the FIFPRO licence for more than 10,000 players – a rare feat for an indie studio.
At launch, the game will feature the names and images of 13,000 players, with Hare promising more will be added over time from "the diverse collective of players that FIFPRO represent."
"Since the days when we were making Sensible Soccer back in the 1990s, it has always been vital to use the names of real players to authenticate a football game and to elevate it above being merely a trivial, sports-themed frivolity," Hare told GamesIndustry.biz.
"We are delighted that FIFPRO has chosen to partner with Sociable Soccer as the first licensed arcade action football game series to be able to use the huge database of professional footballers that they represent."
FIFPRO, meanwhile, is keen to work with game studios to get these players featured in titles – and not just the most famous footballers.
"At FIFPRO we love games that embrace our global collective," the organisation's chief commercial officer Andrew Orsatti told GamesIndustry.biz. "Sociable Soccer helps to shine a light on a broad spectrum of players across this vast ecosystem of professional football.
"From household names to those lesser known, it’s great to see so many different levels, competitions and communities worldwide represented through Sociable Soccer."
Sociable Soccer was first announced in 2015 via a Kickstarter campaign, which was later cancelled. The game launched in Early Access on Steam in 2017, but this was also withdrawn after just over a year.