Rugby 25 Video Game on early access

Rugby often bemoans the lack of a decent video game since Jonah Lomu Rugby was released in 1997. There are a lot of expectations for Rugby 25, and it's now out on early access. This means it isn't a finished game, and it's only available through Steam for the PC. And you'll need a controller.

If it's a turkey, then it's unlikely anyone will take another stab at a rugby title for a long time.

This YouTuber didn't care for the game mechanics

Developed by Big Ant, so I'll be steering well clear.

I cannot ever recall a good rugby game, of either the playing or management variety.

Rugby Fan wrote:This YouTuber didn't care for the game mechanics

He didn't actually bother to learn them, though - just assumed that they would be identical to Rugby 22 and then got flustered when they weren't.

He's also not the most observant guy around - complains just before half time that Woki is playing fullback when the screen has a big box on it declaring that the player is No 11, Mauvaki.

I'd maybe take what he says with a pinch of salt and make your own judgement about whether it will be playable.

Poorfour wrote:...He didn't actually bother to learn them, though - just assumed that they would be identical to Rugby 22 and then got flustered when they weren't.

That's how a lot of gamers are though. They don't do training scenarios, or walkthroughs, they just jump straight in and expect to pick things up off the hoof. A French Twitch streamer did much the same thing, and is already calling the gameplay a disaster. You'd rather not have that kind of reaction to a game under development but it's a fairly typical trajectory.

One early access player thinks the developer, Big Ant, brought over a lot of the mechanics from its "Rugby League Live 4" title, and unsuccessfully tried to turn the play-the-ball into a union ruck contest.

The last 40 seconds of his video shows players standing around, not contesting, or playing away from a ruck (the whole clip also features game commentary, which sounds quite good).



This YouTuber says he expected the gameplay to be sloppy, and hopes the developer responds to all the early access feedback. That seems to be crucial.