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Yeah I hate when that happens. I still recall the huge hype around Sword of the Stars 2 which was even worse on launch - the code itself was broken and unplayable.

They'd had all this hype and then BANG the game was utterly unplayable to the point where Steam issued refunds on default on it (this was back in the days when you had to email them a support ticket to request a refund).
They spent a year trying to clean it up and did a decent job, but the amount of work was huge and after the disaster of a launch the funding was pulled

It was really strange because the studio seemed really dedicated, but at the same time the lack of "hey this game doesn't work but we are launching cause finances" or not going into EA or another system (actually can't recall if EA was a system back then) just killed community support.



Amazing Kerberos has survived, but they've been making much smaller games since then and I think they've even more so moved into boardgames.

Thanks, Overread. That actually gives me some hope though - maybe they'll be forced to fix it and get it to a reasonable state, if nothing else than to protect their investment in the game license! Fingers crossed...

Arise thread, arise!

I have read the game now has cross-platform play. Also that a number of the more egregious bugs have removed and the game now is more playable.

Thinking of starting an online league with friends thanks to the crossplay, anyone on Dakka still playing the game and if so what is the current state of affairs with it?

So - an update for anyone else wanting to know about this game and reading this thread!

First of all, I think this is the conclusion I have reached: if you want to play Bloodbowl against friends who you would not otherwise be able to play in person, or even on one of the previous games, I would say that is the only circumstance under which I would play this game. For everything else, I would take whatever other option is available, as it will offer a better experience than this game.

As for list of failings, where do I start? It's essentially an unfinished game, with a level of purchasable DLC that would make most free-to-play mobile games blush.
The AI is pretty much unplayable, and actually makes the AI from the 2nd game seem like you are playing against Data from Star Trek by comparison. As an example, it will pause for 5 minutes, not move anything, then carry out a block with a str3 character against your Ogre that you have on line of scrimmage. I am not exaggerating, it is really funny but it is basically unplayable, and the campaign mode therefore a waste of time.

I will say the presentation is quite good (some of the game intros, TD celebrations etc.) but that is probably the only positive I could say about the game.
The 'result' of a block or dice roll will be displayed on screen before the dice have finished rolling - i.e. unless a 'KO' or injury pops up, you know those dice are not going to be successful - removing any and all suspense of watching the dice roll, which is so much of any game (be it virtual of physical).
The way that the crowd are silent when you score a TD (why go through SO much trouble designing the admittedly excellent stadiums and surfaces, and then do this?)
Just little things like not being able to see stats/skills easily, no little pop up of XP when your team member does something - there is so much missing that was in the previous game.

And the DLC? Mother of God, the DLC. I am not inherently against DLC as a concept, and understand studios are struggling to cover high development costs, and it can add worthwhile content to a game. But this takes a lot of basics (the anaemic selection of teams, being able to personalise your players so they don't look like clones etc.) and treats them as optional extras. Whatever purchase price you have paid for the game, bear strongly in mind if you want the likes of Wood Elves, Undead, Goblins, Lizardmen etc. then at least on PS5 expect to pay £8 or so per team.

This is honestly like the nastiest, most vindictive version of GW from the late 00's decided to release a game, and just tried to fleece the customers for the most money possible, for the poorest quality product (the Finecast of GW video games perhaps?) And the fact that the game has been so heavily review-bombed on Metacritic (which I can understand), and it doesn't sound like they have acquiesced at all on quite how mercenary the DLC is, to be able to play the game in any sort of form. I can only assume the development studio is in serious trouble, to attempt this sort of actually quite craven practice.

Agreed on so many of those points.

Being able to earn the DLC teams for free is a nice feature. By playing and getting to level 40 (?) on the play-a-game-score-a-level track is a huge slog, it is a choice to avoid paying.
You can pay a bit to skip some levels, so is not as much of a chore.

The multi-minute wait for the computer opponent to do something is excrutiating.

The GUI has a problem with hard-to-see options when a player has a choice to make. A re-roll or pass dial appears, but is often overlaid on players of the same colour. The buttons should flash or wobble or something, to make themselves easier to be seen.

I've played it BB3 for 55 hours so far, and have aquired 3 of the teams via both methods. It is a nice way to get solo games in, while waiting the sessions to turn up a tthe local club. Sitting through so many issues just makes the IRL gaming that much nicer when they happen.

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I love tabletop blood bowl, I even played the first blood bowl game, but I feel like cyanide studio kinda has this like... I really don't know what's going on behind the scenes, they should have been able to master blood bowl by now. I feel like for a game as simple as blood bowl, to not have all the teams, or to keep adding DLC or whatever, they're just not doing a good job.