Big Ant Studios, in collaboration with the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), has announced Cricket 19 – The Official Game of the Ashes. Building on the fan-favourite Ashes Cricket, Cricket 19 features all formats of the international game, both men’s and women’s teams, and all host venues. This includes the Specsavers Ashes, fully licensed for both England and Australia. But that’s just scratching the surface of this year’s title.
Deep enhancements to the AI engine mean that the opposition is more realistic than ever before. When bowling, the AI will suss out your player and team’s weaknesses, and target that with a concentrated bowling strategy. When batting, the AI will rotate the strike to protect weaker players, and actively look for gaps in the field.
New features to be added to Cricket 19 include a scenario mode, which allows players to recreate the greatest matches in history, and then share them online to challenge other players to achieve difficult run-chases, or play out a draw from a disastrous situation. Enhancements to the career mode build a story around your player; how you look in the news headlines affects your potential career trajectory.
For the first time ever, a deep, rich cricket simulation will also be playable on the go. Cricket 19 will be available on the Nintendo Switch, allowing you to play both single player and multiplayer anywhere, anytime.
“We have the most active and passionate community. Many of our players logged thousands of hours with our previous cricket titles, and Cricket 19 is very much built on the experience of those players,” Big Ant CEO, Ross Symons, said. “Whether you’re looking to enjoy a 20-year cricket career that takes you from the club level to captaining the national team, re-create an ODI or IT20 series or take part in the Ashes, or just bash some balls around with friends, Cricket 19 has you covered.”
“We are thrilled to announce Cricket 19 with Big Ant Studios,” ECB Commercial Director, Rob Calder said. “We have a huge summer of cricket to look forward to in England and Wales this year and this is another great way for fans to enjoy all the action.”
“The Ashes is the greatest contest in cricket, and Cricket 19 is going to be the most detailed simulation of the event that we’ve ever seen,” Steve Powell, Managing Director, Maximum Games UK, said. “We’re thrilled to be joining Big Ant Studios in bringing the game to English fans.”
More details about the new features and gameplay modes in Cricket 19 will be announced at a later date. The game releases on all consoles – PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch – in May, with an exact release date TBA. A PC (Steam) version will follow shortly after.
