Sometimes sports video games need to change their covers just before they are released. It happened to FIFA and SPE, it happened to Driving me crazy, it happened NBA 2K. Now it goes with too Cricket 22, but for slightly more scandalous reasons.
When Kyrie Irving, Neymar, LeBron, Ronaldo and Brett Favre all had to swap their respective covers, it was because they had switched teams between the first presentation of the cover and the actual release of the game. This is a headache for game makers and marketers, but it’s usually not the biggest business.
With Cricket 22However, developers Big Ant had selected Tim Paine, the Australian captain, as one of two cover stars because they thought it would be a popular and safe choice. What it was, until the moment it was revealed last week that he had sent “indecent messages” and an unwanted cock pic to a former colleague.
That happened in 2018, and while he was acquitted at the time after private investigations by local cricket authorities found the exchange to be “amicable”, the investigation only came about because the woman who received the news was an official one Complaint had been filed, leading to local debate about how consensual they were.
The scandal became public late last week, and as a result, Paine stepped down from his role as captainwho is a much more important and powerful figure in cricket than most other sports. However, he will continue to play for Australia in the upcoming Ashes series against England.
OK, phew, now that I’ve explained all of this to the international audience, who probably had no idea what was going on, it was decided that Paine would also be removed as the cover star of the local cricket game with developers Big Ant released that statement :
Hello cricket fans!
We know you’re excited to get your hands on Cricket 22 – The Official Game Of The Ashes.
We’re equally interested in bringing the game to you as the team worked incredibly hard to make what we believe to be our greatest title to date.
Unfortunately, factors beyond our control have resulted in the need to update the game’s cover, other graphics, and team lists. There was a critical Day 1 patch that players would need to enjoy the full Cricket 22 experience that had to be revoked as a result. The new patch won’t be ready for release until December 2nd.
As a result, we made the difficult decision to postpone the release of the game for all physical and digital platforms by a week. This is the first time Big Ant Studios has had to postpone a game’s release, but we are in an unprecedented situation. Everyone at Big Ant Studios would like to thank our fans and supporters for understanding our need to do this to ensure the game is as immersive and authentic as possible.
We will update you with more details shortly. In the meantime, circle December 2nd on the calendar!
We can’t wait to see you out there in the field.
Ross Symons, CEO, and the Big Ant team
Paine was replaced on the cover by fast bowler Pat Cummins, a replacement that was done so quickly that digital copies of the game will now meet their December 2nd release date, with only physical copies being delayed.
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