Codemasters signs Europe’s greatest football clubs and promises an individual Club Football action game for every one

The acclaimed UK based game developer and publisher will produce and simultaneously launch an individually branded and badged game for each club initially across two gaming platforms – PlayStation 2 and Xbox.

In the UK, the project will result in a Club Football game for every PlayStation 2, and Xbox gamer including: Arsenal Club Football, Aston Villa Club Football, Chelsea Club Football, Leeds United Club Football, Liverpool Club Football, Manchester United Club Football, and Rangers Club Football. Another seven European editions of the game will also be published [see below for full list].

Delivering a club specific game for every fan, this unique way of bringing a football action game to market taps into the very soul of football – the tribal fanaticism of club supporters. Each game will carry the headline brand of an individual football club and the overall series will be sub-branded as Club Football.

Club Football is being designed to be the most realistic, playable football action title brought to market. Uniquely, each club edition of the game will be tailored specifically to each featured club and will include accurately modelled stadia to recreate the genuine match day experience.

The game enables players to create themselves as a digital footballer and join the club’s first team alongside their heroes. All the official players in the game are photo-realistic having been modelled in 3D using a new photographic technique, exclusive to Club Football. On pitch gameplay puts the gamer as a key player in the squad in matches against their club’s rivals in a series of championships.

Simon Prytherch, head of the Codemasters’ Football Studio, has been charged with designing and developing the game and it is his most ambitious project to date. Simon’s experience includes making LMA Manager the best-selling football management console game franchise.

“It’s every fan’s dream to train and play for their club,” says Simon. “To come out of the tunnel and onto the hallowed turf; to see all the familiar players beside you with the roar of your club’s supporters; that’s just as taste of the atmosphere we’re going to deliver in Club Football.”

Codemasters’ series of Club Football titles is currently under development and scheduled to launch in autumn 2002. The premier line up of international football clubs confirmed to date, which will each have an individually-branded game produced, is:

• Arsenal (England)
• Aston Villa (England)
• Chelsea (England)
• Leeds United (England)
• Liverpool (England)
• Manchester United (England)
• Rangers (Scotland)
• Borussia Dortmund (Germany)
• Hamburg SV (Germany)
• FC Bayern Munich (Germany)
• Ajax (Netherlands)
• FC Barcelona (Spain)
• AC Milan (Italy)
• Inter Milan (Italy)
• Juventus (Italy)