Blood Bowl 3 was finally released yesterday (February 23) but already has a “mostly negative” rating on Steam.
Developed by Cyanide Studio, the sequel to 2015’s Blood Bowl 2 sees “the iconic death sport return with the new video game of fantasy football faithfully using the latest board game rules.” Players are tasked with creating their team “then crush, mulch and cheat your way to the top… leaving your opponents in the graveyard.”
An Early Access launch for Blood Bowl 3 was delayed in 2021 with the turn-based combat game’s full release then pushed back from February 2022 to 2023.
“The pandemic has impacted production times, and these new dates will allow our development teams to give their fans polished games without compromising on our quality targets,” said Nacon’s head of publishing Benoît Clerc at the time.
Blood Bowl 3. Credit: Cyanide Studio.
But over a year later than planned, it seems Blood Bowl 3 may not be worth the wait. Just 26 per cent of the 460 reviews on Steam are positive with fans unhappy about skills not being implemented and the fact the only difference between the released game and the Early Access version is more teams.
“All of the development effort has gone into the microtransactions store for cosmetics,” wrote one review. “It feels like all the previous community feedback went straight in the bin. The microtransactions are extremely predatory and scummy.”
Other players have complained that Blood Bowl 3 was virtually unplayable during a 48-hour early access period. “All I need is for the game to just function as intended and I can pretty much ignore the rest. At the moment, not only is the game a total mess, it was almost non-functional for the entire duration of the 48 hour early unlock period I purchased,” said another review.
Do not buy Blood Bowl 3
Release today is FILLED with glitches and lacking stuff
Response from one of the ACTUAL mod developers for Blood Bowl below:@cueT I wouldn’t recommend getting this right now pic.twitter.com/vZB8DtfBj9
— YodaTheWeeb 🔞 (@YodaTheWeeb) February 23, 2023
“Not only as a fan of Blood Bowl, but as a fan of gaming in general, I implore you to NOT support this shameless husk of a game that furthers the existence of corporate lies and incompetence,” said a third review.
“The hype has been real and I truly believed the developers when they promised us that the wait would be worth it. It’s beyond me how they could have uttered those words on camera in good conscience. Blood Bowl 3 is a slap in the face of fans and newcomers alike.”
Over on Reddit, one player said the “mostly negative” review tag on Steam was “incredibly generous given the state of the game. The fact that it was delayed multiple times and released in this state is an utter embarrassment.”
Prior to launch, the studio behind Blood Bowl 3 reportedly removed the roadmap for the game.
In other news, Sony has revealed a new trailer for Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League which sees the anti-heroes take on The Flash – check it out here.
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