“Ultimate Rivals” Studio Officially Partners with the NFLPA, OneTeam Partners
Football added to line-up of ground-breaking sports video games featuring superstars from across the sports world
Just a few days ago, Bit Fry Game Studios – the folks behind the Ultimate Rivals series – inked a partnership with OneTeam Partners and the NFL Players Association. The press release also announces a plan to add an officially-licensed football title to the Ultimate Rivals series.
Already incorporating select NFL players into its existing arcade action NHL-licensed hockey game Ultimate RivalsTM: The Rink and its upcoming NBA-licensed basketball game Ultimate Rivals: The Court, with the NFLPA license, Bit Fry will now flip the script and enable users to play on the virtual gridiron with superstar athletes from across hockey, basketball, baseball, and soccer alongside a select roster of current NFL players. The agreement grants Bit Fry the right to feature the names, numbers, images, and likenesses of nearly 2,000 current NFL players in an arcade action football game. OneTeam, the NFLPA’s group licensing representative, facilitated the deal.
Press Release, Bit Fry Studios – LicenseGlobal
The arcade-action sports genre has been sorely lacking since the days of the original NBA Jam, 90’s NHL titles, and the later reign of Midway’s Hitz/Slugfest/Blitz titles, and Bit Fry is already well underway in their crusade to disrupt the $14B/year sports video-game category with their previous Ultimate Rivals title – The Rink.
Those who listen to the show know I’m a HUGE NBA Jam guy, and that I absolutely cannot wait for Bit Fry’s Ultimate Rivals: The Court later this year – and this news coming hot on the heels of EA revealing Madden’s new “The Yard” mode can’t be a coincidence. The big guys know fans want arcade sports experiences, yet only provide tacked-on modes to pacify us in the meantime while the next cookie-cutter main line sports title is in the works. Bit Fry is trying to change that.
With an already incredibly impressive roster of athletes spanning every major sport (like Alex Morgan, Jose Altuve, Wayne Gretzky, and JuJu Smith Schuster), it’s pretty wild to think about where Bit Fry will be able to take the franchise next now that they’re looking at a fully-licensed partnership with the entire NFLPA. Here’s hoping we get more details on “Ultimate Rivals: The Gridiron” or something like that real soon.
Ultimate Rivals: The Rink is available exclusively on Apple Arcade now, and will be followed by Ultimate Rivals: The Court later this year. Bit Fry’s yet-unnamed football title is slated for release in 2021.
