PC Soccer It is one of the most beloved video game franchises in Spain. If you grew up during the 90s, you will surely be familiar with this sports management simulator. Its most successful edition sold around 400,000 units. For several months this name has been heard again, since in principle a new installment is being developed: PC Soccer 8. But things are not as simple as they may seem. What happens if you put together a crowdfunding on Twitter, an opaque company and thousands of fans excited about the game of their adolescence? Let’s see it.
A roller coaster of illusions and frustrations
It all started on February 7, 2023, when the Twitter account of a forum called PCFootballMania name changed to PC Soccer Official. The change came with a post in which it was said “Do you want this 2023 to come back?” PC FOOTBALL? Help us.” The post asked for the collaboration of fans and appealed to their nostalgia: “If we reach 150,000 followers, we promise that there will be PC FOOTBALL 2023 and that we will build it together.”
The follower counter read 65,000 when the Twitter account was linked to a recently created company called Una Partida Más SRL, owned by computer scientist Héctor Prats. In its following posts, the company asked the community to design the game’s new logo, proposing to hold a kind of contest in which the winner would win 200 euros and lose all rights to their design.
This is how it was born PC Soccer 2024: with a promise, a community-made logo and a release date: December 23, 2023.
The point where something went wrong
Developing a video game is very expensive, so, to finance the project, Una Partida Más SRL thought of putting 5,000 units on pre-sale at 25.94 euros. “We need them all to be sold. Put your name in the credits of the game :)”, they said in a post at the end of February 2023. The pre-sale was done through PC Componentes, the largest computer sales company in Spain, so it seemed quite reliable.
In fact, it is likely that this collaboration with PC Componentes is due to the fact that Héctor Prats was Technical Lead of the Murcian company between March 2022 and July 2023.
Development seemed to be moving forward. The company outsourced to several groups of developers in Argentina because salaries are lower there, until at the end of 2023 things went wrong. Una Partida Más SRL announced that it was delaying the release of the game indefinitely.
Resurrect to die again
In mid-March 2024, the project was resurrected under the name PC Soccer 8 and with a new release date: April 30. According to the developers, the game was 85% finished, so everything was going smoothly.
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PC Soccer 8 was re-announced with quite a few interesting details: players could choose any season since 1993, the technologies associated with football would change over the years, and the game would offer complete state management. Of course, they had not yet shown the game in operation.
This announcement was followed by three more delays, a total of five release dates: December 23, 2023, April 30, 2024, May 17, June 7, and June 25. At the time of writing, July 4, the game is not yet on sale.
Image from the video game ‘PC Fútbol 8’
According to reports The Confidentialwho has contacted company workers, “Héctor’s excuses are all lies. The game is not even close to being released. Not today, not tomorrow, not next month… I doubt I could make it to September,” they say.
They call the press and the money runs out
So much controversy is not a good launch campaign, so, to silence the rumors, Héctor Prats called the press last Tuesday, July 2. Although the press conference also ended up being postponed. In principle, it will take place on Monday, July 8.
At the same time, several users have reported that the company Una Partida Más SRL is not returning the money for canceled pre-purchases. In fact, the company’s director, Héctor Prats, has sent messages via Twitter to several outraged buyers: “It is being processed, but there is not enough money for everyone right now. There was never any thought of withdrawing the reserves. In any case, the money is unlocked. And it will be resolved in the coming days,” he says.
Screenshot of a conversation between Héctor Prats and a user
The reality of what is happening with PC Soccer 8 remains a mystery. There are workers who claim that the game is still in a very early phase of development, the company says that the game is finished, but fans get tired of waiting and there is not money for everyone.
The head of PC Soccer 8 has called an exclusive online presentation for media for next July 8 with the objective, he says, of showing the game. “We believe it is the final version, but if it is not yet for any reason, we trust that it will serve to verify the work that has been done during 1 year,” he says. We will continue to inform.
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