IQA and EA Sports to Release Benepe '14
The IQA is excited to exclusively announce that it has teamed up with EA Sports to produce Benepe ‘14, the first ever quidditch video game based on the real life sport. Benepe ‘14 will be released for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on July 1st, the same day the 2013-2014 IQA season begins.
“As quidditch is recognized as more and more of a legitimate sport, the IQA is thrilled that Electronic Arts and EA Sports have been among the first to recognize the true potential of the game,” said Alex Benepe, IQA CEO and the game's namesake. “Bringing real life quidditch to a video game is yet another step in exposing the sport to a wider audience and increasing our real world player base.”
EA Sports, who first approached the IQA about the possibility of such a partnership following the Olympic Expo Games in Oxford last summer, has taken many cues from their Madden franchise of games for the creation of this new series. Though names of actual IQA players could not be used, Benepe will allow players to select from dozens of real-life quidditch teams, including Texas A&M, University of Florida, and the University of Maryland, under the terms of EA's preexisting NCAA license. By consulting with the IQA's game play department, EA Sports has been able to make the strengths and weaknesses of these teams and their respective players resemble those of their real-life counterparts.
Benepe ‘14 will also exhibit a variety of different game modes, including franchise mode, where players start out controlling a brand new quidditch team and have to deal with the challenges of recruitment and purchasing equipment, guiding their team along the path to become World Cup champions. In addition to starting a team, players have the option to join an existing college team as an individual as either a keeper, beater, chaser, or snitch.
In a nod to the conditions in which the sport is usually played, Benepe ‘14 will have a “weather” option where players can simulate a typical Northeast Region practice complete with rain and mud. Beyond just changing the weather, players have the option to change the different rules of the sport. Players can select different periods in the history of quidditch to play, including its first year under the original “rulebook,” which uses the framework and physics engine of EA's previous game, NFL Blitz. In these first years of competition, players' skins will also be modified to feature capes.
Additionally, EA is thrilled to unveil a new social media feature that will automatically post a player's accomplishment to the IQA: ALL the regions Facebook group. Notably, all achievements will boast about the superiority of the player's region above all others.
For all players that manage to win the World Cup the character of Alex Benepe will be unlocked. When Benepe attends one of your tournaments, you will have 50% more fans in attendance, but all spectators will be focused on taking pictures with him and his cane, rather than watching your matches.
“The different game modes will really add a dimension to the game beyond just, ‘playing quidditch,'” said Logan Anbinder, the IQA's Marketing Director. “It's especially exciting because when we'd approached other companies about creating a game based on this broom-based sport, they would always just bristle with indignation. We're especially excited to work with EA, especially after other businesses gave us the shaft.”
EA Sports has also taken care to faithfully replicate one of the sport's most random aspects, the snitch. Among the adjustable settings in games of Benepe 14 will be seeker floor, time to “brooms up,” and snitch difficulty. Players who in real life are strongly in favor of longer seeker floors will have the opportunity to play shorter games, without a real World Cup berth on the line.
Taking another leaf out of Madden's book, Benepe 14 will include an “Ask” feature, where they can get advice from Teams Director Harrison Homel on everything from team management to game strategy.
The IQA is very proud to announce this new platform for the sport of quidditch, and hopes that players will consider buying a copy to prove the viability of the concept for future development. Interested parties should contact Logan Anbinder at logan.anbinder@internationalquidditch.org with questions about marketing and distribution.
