Rugby fans, rejoice! On Wednesday, Nacon and Eko Software announced Rugby 22 is on its way. The new rugby sim is slated for a January 2022 release and will launch on the PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.
The Paris-based studio developed the previous two Rugby titles, Rugby 18 and 20. According to the developer, Rugby 22 boasts “more realistic AI,” improved, adaptable difficulty, and “more lifelike star-player faces.” The last of which should show itself on next-generation hardware.
Benoît Clerc, Head of Publishing at Nacon, shared the company’s mission statement for the title in a press release.
“We want to offer rugby fans the most authentic and complete experience possible,” explains Clerc. “With updated gameplay that has incorporated many improvements based on player feedback on the previous titles and by including official teams and competitions never seen before in a rugby simulation.”
All of the top leagues and official clubs are featured in Rugby 22. As well as, the major national teams like France, Italy, Ireland, and Japan. Gamers will also get the chance to go head-to-head with their favorite teams against their friends in multiplayer.
The last Rugby game released in January of 2020. The game aimed to really capitalize on recreating one of the fastest-growing sports in the world, but mostly missed the mark for more casual gamers. You can check out SGO’s review of Rugby 20 here.
It would be great to see the Rugby series make good on its full potential. After the previous decade, which saw very little expansion in the sports video game market. It looks like things are changing. Hopefully we can return to the golden era of sports games where titles like Arena Football played just as well as some of the other major titles.