A few days ago, Ashes Cricket 2013 was pulled from sale following complaints from buyers. These weren't design complaints about the game being too slow or too boring (this is cricket, after all), but rather what appears to be an absurdly shoddy product: full of bugs, terrible textures, awful AI, a choppy camera, and players that could barely move without glitching. Given how much of a mess the game was in, its publishers today released a statement criticising the game's developers and promising refunds to buyers.
Here's just one example of the game in action, via Reddit's amazing r/GamePhysics :
I'm sure we'll get a few readers not familiar with the intricacies of cricket, so let me assure you that teleporting to the ground isn't in the rules.
“As most people who have followed the project closely can affirm, the development of Ashes Cricket 2013 has been fraught with challenges almost from the outset," 505 Games said. "The chosen developer, even with their many years of cricket game development experience, was unable to overcome the unexpected challenges that the chosen game engine threw up, even with multiple extensions to the development schedule. At the start of the project, 505 Games received all assurances from the developer that the engine was up to the task of creating a dynamic, cutting-edge cricket game for the modern age across multiple platforms, and unfortunately those assurances were found to be misplaced."
505 Games then apologised to their licensors, the ECB and Cricket Australia, who they say "have been nothing but patient and supportive of us throughout the challenges this project has presented, and who, ultimately, we have let down."
"Our deepest apologies, however, are reserved for the fans of cricket and cricket games worldwide," they said. "505 Games prides itself on being a safe pair of hands on which gamers of all tastes and denominations can rely to put their best foot forward to create compelling gaming experiences. It is clear that, in this instance, we have fallen way short of our stated aims and failed to deliver. We know that the mitigating factors, as highlighted above, hold little solace to the hordes of excited cricket fans worldwide who had hoped this year to be able to play out their fantasy of playing in the Ashes series.
"The people who purchased the game will be contacted very shortly with details of a full refund.”
Give how bad the game turned out, it seems strange that 505 would even release it in the first place. At least they seem committed to making up for their mistake.
We've contacted the developer, Trickstar, for their side of the story.
Thanks, RPS .
