It has long been unclear whether a new rugby league will arrive, teased by the NRL in 2020 and never mentioned again, but we know that new rugby league matches will be released later this year.
NRL CEO Andrew Abdo joined the Hello Sport podcast to confirm that a new game will be released this year, making sure this will be multi-platform and online more than ever.
“I love games. I really believe in gamification as a way to connect with new and existing fans who have won. The film has new games and is multi-platform. It’s much more online, much more modern and released this year,” Abdo said.
It is speculated that NACON (owns Big Ant) has obtained both NRL and Super League game licenses, so it is expected to be some kind of game with both code incorporating it. It is likely that Big Ant (formerly the developer of Rugby League Live Games) will be developed.
Big Ant CEO Ross Simmons has been seen in several NRL games around the world, including the opening game held in Vegas over the weekend.
This is how you can watch soccer! thank you @nrl !!! PS: Ponz here is loud!!! pic.twitter.com/i7qgrny72x
– Ross (@rosssymons) March 1, 2025
If there’s more doubt, he’s also replied to multiple fans with a bit of a win-faced look, and the little nods pretty much confirm that Big Ali is a developer I personally think is good news, given that he has work in all his games so far.
I know, it’s crazy, isn’t it? 😉
– Ross (@rosssymons) March 2, 2025
Rugby League Live 4 was released in 2017. Passed on 8/10, he said: “Rugby League Live 4 is a step in the right direction. For a while, there are levels of polish that I’ve never seen in Australian sports games, and I still have some AI issues, but I didn’t feel that it changed the outcome of the game. The offense is more realistic and can lead to frustration when trying to get over the line, but the game rewards spending time with it and learning new offensive/defensive mechanics. If you like the last game, there’s no reason why you don’t like this even more. The PS4 version of this game was played for the purposes of this review.”
