iMackulate Vision Gaming, or IMV, in partnership with Big Ant Studios, are the developers behind Gridiron Champions, a new take on classic college football games. And though it seems like it’s just another indie game, the project has picked up steam as there are some NFL players on board for bringing College Football back.
Recently, Gridiron Champions gained some new supporters in the form of professional athletes who also long for the return of college football games.
Cousins Alex and Kameron Lewis, founders of IMV Gaming, missed the college games so much that they started their own gaming development company in an effort to #BringBackGreatness.
Three professional athletes in particular are embracing IMV’s vision to #BringBackGreatness, and some even went as far as to publicly endorse the project. Washington Redskins Safety Su’a Cravens and former Baltimore Raven Lamar Louis are two of the NFL players who are supporting the efforts of IMV Gaming.
Standing with them is Spencer Dinwiddie of the NBA’s Brooklyn Nets, and the three of them together have joined IMV Gaming’s fundraising efforts. All three have been using Twitter videos and promo shoots as a way to lobby fans of the classic college games for help in funding the project.
Until now, IMV Gaming has relied mostly on their own crowdfunding to fuel their not-yet-licensed college football project Gridiron Champions.
As most of you know, 2014 was the last year we had the pleasure of playing EA Sports NCAA Football due to licensing and player likeness issues stemming from the case of Obannon v. NCAA. The NCAA Football franchise is sorely missed by football gamers and fans everywhere, just like Dinwiddie, echoed that sentiment in the video above.
Cravens feels the same way as most of you, and even made a video on Twitter where he nearly begs fans to help with the crowdfunding efforts of IMV Gaming.
Some of you might be asking yourselves why would professional athletes care about a college football game? Same reasons all of us do, we love and miss our college football gameday experience.
IMV Gaming confirmed with SGO that, currently, only the three athletes from the above videos are working with the team to help raise funds and awareness for the project.
The goal is to raise $850,000, and as of January 4, they’ve hit the $183,000 mark. IMV Gaming is taking a fairly unique approach when it comes to enticing people to donate to their fund.
Rewards for donations range from getting your name in the credits to a VIP invitation to the game’s official launch party. Clearly, the team at IMV has come up with a great way to reward investors. The real reward comes when the developers provide an in-depth, realistic college football gaming experience.
Unfortunately, the first game will not be licensed by the NCAA. In an earlier statement, IMV Gaming reiterated that although the first game will not be licensed, there is potential for future editions of the franchise to obtain NCAA licensing.
Gridiron Champions will, however, come as a unique game with over 126 schools plus feature several in-depth game modes. The development team at IMV Gaming hopes to have the game on store shelves by 2019.
All of this won’t be possible, of course, without continued crowdfunding support and private investing from what the two cousins call “The Community.” The Community is basically made up of everybody who grew up playing and loving the college football video games, and who want to see them brought back. Gridiron Champions plans to do just that.
Stay tuned to SGO for all the latest news and developments surrounding IMV’s efforts to bring NCAA football back to the Sports Gaming genre.