120 million - that's the number of people, globally, who watched the Rugby World Cup final back in 2015 between New Zealand and Australia. According to some reports, rugby is the second most popular sport in the Western world (outside the US), behind football / soccer, and even in the US - where most die-hard sports fans would struggle to tell you much about it - some broadcasts will attract in excess of 1 million viewers. There's no shortage of fans, then, so why is the sport is so woefully under-served when it comes to video games?While FIFA and PES limber up for another iteration that will delight round-ball fans, there's slim pickings for rugby enthusiasts. See, somewhere along the way, it was decided that rugby games simply don't sell, and they were promptly ditched in favour of safer bets like Madden and FIFA. This means that they haven't iterated alongside other sports franchises, and with every passing year it gets harder and harder to rejoin the game. You've got nothing to build on. Core sports have absolutely nailed their gameplay and presentation, so it's all about tweaking, fine-tuning, adding new players. This year's PES, for example, is dining out on the fact it has improved goalkeeper AI.
https://www.gamesradar.com/uk/heres-why-rugby-video-games-fail-and-how-to-fix-them/
* Rugby World Cup final * even in the US * woefully under-served * This year's PES * Newcastle * the official app was downloaded * looking to streaming services * Pearl Harbor