PLAY BALL - 'SPEEDBALL' HITS CONSOLES, LAUNCHES OUT OF EARLY ACCESS JAN. 27

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

OXFORD (Jan. 6, 2026) - Rebellion, one of the world's most successful independent video game developers and publishers, has today announced that Speedball will launch on Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5 and leave Steam early access on Jan. 27 following its initial launch in Oct. 2024. https://store.steampowered.com/app/1795190/Speedball/

Speedball is the revival of the iconic Bitmap Brothers franchise, first launched in 1988. Set in the grim future of 2138, Speedball is a no-holds-barred future sport that is used by mega-corporations to distract the downtrodden masses from their miserable lives. It is the only sport that allows two cybernetically augmented teams to go head-to-head at levels of speed and violence beyond human limitations. Matches are fast-paced, explosive and unpredictable and you will need to master high-speed passing, coordination and shooting.

Key features:

• Incredible fast-paced, explosive and unpredictable matches 
• Face off in a brutal sport featuring a wide range of teams and arenas 
• Take advantage of arena specific obstacles and abilities to gain the upper hand against your opponents 
• Slow motion Slam Cam captures the most visceral and brutal tackles 
• Arcade-style matches come together with sports management strategy 
• Organize a team that fits your playstyle based on their individual traits and talents 
• Hone your skills against the AI and then compete online or against a friend locally

Early Access Updates

Since Speedball launched into Early Access in Oct. 2024, Rebellion has continued to add new features and updates that have overhauled the game, including:

• New League Mode, which sees 10 teams compete over a season to be crowned champions 
• Tutorial system to help new players get up to speed 
• Added new Brutal versions of arenas, alongside their 
• Standard variants Improved visuals, including upgraded VFX on high impact collisions 
• Improved shooting system to allow for better shot placement 
• Enhanced gameplay mechanics, including speed, goalkeeping and AI Eight new arenas added to the roster 
• Dynamic arena traps and obstacles, including flamethrowers, ice shotguns, grind rails and more have been added 
• New armor sets and color styles

For the latest news and updates, be sure to follow Speedball on our social channels: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube. Rebellion is also encouraging players to join our Discord forum to engage with the developers.

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About Rebellion

Founded in 1992, Rebellion is one of the world’s most successful independent studios. Its flagship Sniper Elite series is renowned for its authentic stealth and sniping gameplay with more than 20 million players worldwide. Most recently Rebellion released Atomfall, a new action survival game set in Britain, which was met with critical and commercial acclaim, securing over 2 million players in the first 2 weeks.

The company also owns and publishes 2000 AD, which is synonymous with the absolute finest in British comic book art. With the acquisition of a $100m film studio and the world’s largest archive of English language comics, Rebellion continues to grow from strength to strength.

Rebellion now operates across books, comics, TV and film, but at its core it’s still a leading developer and publisher of games. Whether it’s the breath-taking intensity of the Sniper Elite, the face-hugging terror of Aliens vs. Predator or the grindhouse frenzy of the Zombie Army series, the Oxford-based studio is revered for creating stand-out games designed to thrill.

 

Article by: Susan N.

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Playstation Minis - a few quick hit reviews

So recently, I picked up Playstation + for a few months on something of a whim. I wanted to transfer some save files, there were a few deals that caught my eye, so basically I did the 'responsible' thing and spent $17. Given the headaches I got from trying to re-up my Xbox Live Gold account recently (more on that soon), I figured maybe I would get something more out of this.

So far? I've been pretty pleased with it. I've gotten a handful of free games, and it's exposed me to some Minis I probably wouldn't have tried otherwise. Here's a quick rundown on the recent ones I've taken a shot at:

Street Smart - okay, this game is clearly an older titles made before more notable 'beat 'em up' titles. This was probably an arcade cabinet game and not something designed for the PSN by any means. The title is pretty much throwaway. I played through it once. Very simple one on one fights against 8 opponents across the country with very basic attacks. I kept thinking it was meant to be a quarter eater. 1/10

Alien Zombie Death - This is a fun and simple game, but really only in limited doses. It's a very basic shoot 'em up style title with pretty cool visuals. It's a very basic 2D shooter where you use square and circle to shoot to a side while you move about taking on hordes of aliens that continually fly at you. It's nothing fancy, but considering Minis are lower budget games that are usually designed to be 'quick fixes', this one was decent. 7/10

Speedball 2 Evolution - I kept thinking of the old Genesis game, Mutant League Footbal. You have a couple of teams that can score points for disabling opponents, hitting various targets in and around the arena, and for scoring actual goals. High score wins at the end of the timer. The premise is not bad, but the execution is a bit lacking. The graphics aren't bad, but players are completely nondescript and it's hard to tell one from another. Also, what could be sports title with a bit of strategy usually devolves into just beating up players from the other team with slide tackles because you'll earn more points that way than if you try to actively score. There are some cool RPG-like elements where you are in a league, with prize earnings, that you can put into your players to better them. Still, there's a lot to learn right off of the bat, and the after a few games I grew a bit bored overall. Not a bad effort, just not a great one either. 5/10

Age of Zombies - Yup, you can tell a couple of these titles were acquired around Holloween. Anyway, this is another shooter style game, but with more of a twin-stick/Smash TV feel to it. The game is pretty accessible, and there is a lot happening on the screen at once. I actually liked little touches like the voices and the music for different time periods. Sure, the game is not terribly deep, but for a quick fix pick up and play Mini? This is just about perfect. 8/10

1000 Tiny Claws - Here I've saved the best for last. This is a cool little game where you run around using a sword to knock bugs off of the flying platform you are on. There's openings in the platform, at the edges of the platform, and you can power up a special attack or just whack them until they're on the back, waiting to be knocked off of the edge like little (okay, sometimes big) crawling hockey pucks. The story is a bit ridiculous and the game's actual controls could be better. It would likely have felt better using the analog stick and not the D-pad, but it's easy to pick up and play, great in small bursts and is so far my favorite of the Minis I have gotten to play.

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