PlanetCricket
Bot
- Joined
- Jan 13, 2010
It has been quite a long road for prospective cricket game developers Gamebience. The Canadian game developer has been working on the Cricket Life titles since an initial announcement in 2007, with substantial delays and reorganisation of the game in the years since. In February PlanetCricket reported on new announcements of an impending release and conducted an interview outlining the content of the games and a release plan that would have seen a Summer 2011 release.
However, delays beset the game again with legal proceedings beginning shortly after in India regarding a trademark dispute after attempts to register the ‘Gambience’ name in the local market, with the ongoing case further delaying the game’s release. Initially a mobile game was announced to fill the gap, Cricket Life: Rise of Teams was set for release on Android and the Apple App Store, however the trademark issues also delayed the attempt to release a mobile game, resulting in a long period of no word from Gamebience.
Today PlanetCricket received word that Gamebience expects a resolution to the trademark dispute in the next few months, after which they would be free to make a release of the pending titles. In a statement, Gamebience noted the importance they place on releasing the cricket games into the Indian market and noted that they expected a release outside of the Indian market would make an official release later impossible. Marketing cricket games into the Indian market has been seen by some as a major chance to revive the cricket games market around the world. However disappointing sales of Ashes Cricket 2009, priced at Rs. 500 to encourage more legitimate sales is seen by some as a critical blow to the industry. However Pakistani developer Mindstorm Studios and local developer Trine Games have both had moderate success with their Cricket Revolution and Street Cricket Champions titles respectively, perhaps leaving the window more open to future attempts at winning over the world’s largest cricket market into cricket games.
In a market without a major mainstream title since the release of International Cricket 2010, exclusive to PS3 and Xbox 360, Cricket Life could be the game many have been waiting for, but equally competition with the mysterious cricket title by Australian developer Big Ant, rumoured for a release in the coming months could see Gambience’s effort be overshadowed, perhaps making success in the Indian market even more important, as Big Ant focuses mostly on Australian local releases like the recent AFL and NRL titles.
Article by Matt Whitehorn - Read More...
However, delays beset the game again with legal proceedings beginning shortly after in India regarding a trademark dispute after attempts to register the ‘Gambience’ name in the local market, with the ongoing case further delaying the game’s release. Initially a mobile game was announced to fill the gap, Cricket Life: Rise of Teams was set for release on Android and the Apple App Store, however the trademark issues also delayed the attempt to release a mobile game, resulting in a long period of no word from Gamebience.
Today PlanetCricket received word that Gamebience expects a resolution to the trademark dispute in the next few months, after which they would be free to make a release of the pending titles. In a statement, Gamebience noted the importance they place on releasing the cricket games into the Indian market and noted that they expected a release outside of the Indian market would make an official release later impossible. Marketing cricket games into the Indian market has been seen by some as a major chance to revive the cricket games market around the world. However disappointing sales of Ashes Cricket 2009, priced at Rs. 500 to encourage more legitimate sales is seen by some as a critical blow to the industry. However Pakistani developer Mindstorm Studios and local developer Trine Games have both had moderate success with their Cricket Revolution and Street Cricket Champions titles respectively, perhaps leaving the window more open to future attempts at winning over the world’s largest cricket market into cricket games.
In a market without a major mainstream title since the release of International Cricket 2010, exclusive to PS3 and Xbox 360, Cricket Life could be the game many have been waiting for, but equally competition with the mysterious cricket title by Australian developer Big Ant, rumoured for a release in the coming months could see Gambience’s effort be overshadowed, perhaps making success in the Indian market even more important, as Big Ant focuses mostly on Australian local releases like the recent AFL and NRL titles.
Article by Matt Whitehorn - Read More...
