Indie publisher Curve Digital and developer Game Swing today proudly announced the PC launch of Stikbold! A Dodgeball Adventure, a quirky and perilous reimagining of the classic ball game and local multiplayer darling. To celebrate the game’s launch today on PC and next week’s April 5 and April 8 launches on PlayStation®4 and Xbox One respectively, Stikbold! A Dodgeball Adventure will be going where no indie game has gone before: to the World Cup.
Using simple twin-stick controls and featuring a vibrant, ’70s-inspired art style, Stikbold! is a fast-paced approximation of the game of dodgeball, complete with off-court hazards, random events and boss battles. Players will embark on an epic single or multiplayer journey across a host of wild and wacky dodgeball arenas, using their dodgeball skills to defeat opponents, teams and bosses. Up to four players can partake in brutal yet outlandish rounds of dodgeball, where fast reactions, tactics and teamwork combine to create a sports game unlike any other. Always enjoyable but truly shining as a local multiplayer game, Stikbold! is slated to become the next couch multiplayer game of choice.
Curve Digital and Game Swing have signed a deal with The World Dodgeball Association to become the exclusive court sponsor of the inaugural 2016 Dodgeball World Cup, which will take place on April 16 and 17 at the National Basketball Arena in Manchester, UK. The event – the first of its kind – is organized by The World Dodgeball Association and will pit eight nations against each other across two days, as teams from the United States, England, Malaysia, and Egypt compete for both the men and women’s trophies.
Not only will Stikbold! be featured prominently on court at the event , but as the game is officially presented in association with The World Dodgeball Association, everyone who attends the finals will receive a copy of the game at the event. In addition, Stikbold! will be featured throughout the venue, giving dodgeball fans the opportunity to see for themselves how the game brings their sport so vividly to life.
“We’re absolutely thrilled about this partnership,” says Simon Byron, publishing director, Curve Digital. “When we discovered that the Dodgeball World Cup was happening not just on our doorstep, but almost at the same time as release, we just had to get involved. Whilst Stikbold! isn’t necessarily a simulation of dodgeball, it is firmly based in the sporting arena, and we’re determined to have fun in Manchester during the World Cup.”
“The eyes of the world’s dodgeball players will focus on Manchester in April, offering the sport its greatest ever stage,” adds Tom Hickson, President of The World Dodgeball Association. “We’re delighted to welcome Stikbold! to join the celebrations - it may operate outside of the strict rules of the professional game, but it’s dodgeball through and through. We hope that through this partnership more people will seek out local associations and take an interest in the sport that inspired such a brilliant videogame.”
Stikbold! A Dodgeball Adventure is now available for purchase on Steam at: http://store.steampowered.com/app/429330/ Developed by Copenhagen-based Game Swing and published by Curve Digital, Stikbold! A Dodgeball Adventure is now available on PC and is headed to PlayStation®4 on April 5 and to Xbox One on April 8 for $9.99/€9.99/£7.99 with a 20 percent discount for two weeks post-launch. This title has been rated “E for Everyone” by the ESRB.
Key Features:
- Single or co-op adventure mode
- Up to four player multiplayer matches
- 18 weird and wonderful characters
- 12 single or multiplayer levels spread across five incredibly varied dodgeball arenas
- Intuitive controls offer deeply tactical gameplay
- Inventive story mode takes around three hours to play through each time, with additional content available to unlock via multiple playthroughs
- Highly customizable multiplayer modes that allow for up to six players on screen (four humans, two bots), providing endless challenge
- Players always involved in the action – even if they’re knocked out of the game