Nacon Buys Big Ant

[beechcroft]

Apologies if this has already been announced elsewhere, but I just saw it.

Good, bad, or too early to tell?

Nacon Acquires Australian Developers Big Ant In $54.8 Million Deal​

https://www.kotaku.com.au/2021/01/n...HMOjopuWCnUHHIj2Xb-OApqbqseRAN5_bKJaxyj1z-aVo

 

[ddrap14]

Seems to be financial investment which is always good.

 

[Mitchell]

Could be great news for the future of cricket games

Post automatically merged: Jan 22, 2021

Which the next game cricket has been announced that it in development by Ross on twitter

 

[TomW777]

Well I'm guessing this will be the end of Tennis World Tour & AO Tennis co-existing. They will presumably pick one franchise & move forward with it. Hopefully with the best gameplay features & licenses from each game.
Personally really hoping Big Ant now take over Nacon's Rugby 20 franchise (Ross hass indicated on twitter they Big Ant will now expand into other sports) as I think they could do a really good job of both the gameplay and the fact their creation tools mean Wicked Witch having the S Hemisphere licences would not be too much of an issue.
Again you would hope that more resources would mean better gameplay & licences for Cricket but who knows takeovers and more money doesn't always lead to better games with different people etc controlling the decision making.

 

[Shane109]

I'm still hurting over what happened to companies like Ratbag and Evolution Studios after they got taken over. Hopefully this does more good than harm to Big Ant's existing properties though.

 

[GuyIncognito]

Kotaku | Gaming Reviews, News, Tips and More.

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This is quite interesting. Could possible result in a bigger budget cricket game in the future ?

Nacon's parent is Bigben which is relief to me, I was dreading that along the chain tencent or something would be in there, but aren't thankfully. This is really promising news, not sure it will have much impact on the next game later this year, but definitely the next iteration.

What's promising as well, cricket 19 has the most reviews its ever had on steam compared to previous iterations and is in the top ten for highest rated sports games overall. This probably gave nacon some extra confidence in BA along with the partnership the last few years, and I feel we'll look back at cricket 19 as the starting point of BA taking the franchise to the next level.

Well, that's my fanboy post done lol.

 

[Dutch]

"French Cricket 2022" anyone?

 

[Short Leg Cricket]

"French Cricket 2022" anyone?

I’m up for that I play a lot of French cuts and that would suit me to a T!

 

[chintoo02018]

Tennis World Tour 2 already a game released with collaboration
DEVELOPER:
Big Ant Studios
PUBLISHER:
Nacon

Pros :
Good money can be invest
Cons
If cricket game engine started from scratch then question will rise on game bugs
Would we get the same type support Bigant gives ?

 

[GuyIncognito]

Tennis World Tour 2 already a game released with collaboration
DEVELOPER:
Big Ant Studios
PUBLISHER:
Nacon

Pros :
Good money can be invest
Cons
If cricket game engine started from scratch then question will rise on game bugs
Would we get the same type support Bigant gives ?

The benefit to building an engine from the ground up is that you can identify and fix bugs easier than a leased engine. Only reason we don't get updates is due to staff sizes at BA, I'm assuming. One con would be if they did build a new engine from the ground up, would probably at an extra year (perhaps two) to development due to RND.

 

[Plotinus]

Well I think this is good news for everyone at BA...at least I hope that's the case and they get to benefit from the ambition that they have shown to support sports gaming in areas where other developers and publishers have been unwilling or unable to go. I do hope that cricket remains key to the product line (on PC too) and we continue to see improvements and innovations with each release.

 

[Ed Smith]

Hopefully this is a good thing

 

[TomW777]

Sounds like my wish for Big Ant to make rugby games will come true anyhow which is good news imo as we haven't had a good game since EA stopped with Rugby 08 I imagine we might see a Rugby World 2023 game (especially given France is hosting) "This acquisition represents a significant step in Nacon's strategy. It significantly strengthens our ability to create new sports games that match our ambitions in the AA segment. Through this transaction, we intend to become the world's leading player in rugby, tennis and cricket. Nacon is also proud to welcome the talents of Big Ant, one of the most creative studios in the industry, and we will support its growth on new, even more ambitious projects." says Alain Falc, Chairman and CEO of Nacon.

 

[Jerm]

Sounds like my wish for Big Ant to make rugby games will come true anyhow which is good news imo as we haven't had a good game since EA stopped with Rugby 08 I imagine we might see a Rugby World 2023 game (especially given France is hosting) "This acquisition represents a significant step in Nacon's strategy. It significantly strengthens our ability to create new sports games that match our ambitions in the AA segment. Through this transaction, we intend to become the world's leading player in rugby, tennis and cricket. Nacon is also proud to welcome the talents of Big Ant, one of the most creative studios in the industry, and we will support its growth on new, even more ambitious projects." says Alain Falc, Chairman and CEO of Nacon.

Uhm BigAnt have made rugby games.... Rugby League so hopefully they will now do Rugby Union as well...

 

[TomW777]

Uhm BigAnt have made rugby games.... Rugby League so hopefully they will now do Rugby Union as well...

haha yeah I know - the Rugby League Live series while they aren't perfect are a hell of a lot better than any Union games over the last decade so I am pretty hopeful that Big Ant can make a good fist of a Union series especially if they have good financial backing. Hope they return to making League games as well one day (although might be too much of a niche sport for Nacon).