Sensible Soccer makes bombshell return with new name as design ace Jon Hare reveals all

EXCLUSIVE: Jon Hare is back, and the man behind the Sensible Soccer series is taking modern inspiration for its spiritual successor, Sociable Soccer as he looks to set an incredible record

Sensible Soccer fans will find a lot to enjoy here(Image: Jon Hare/Playstation 5)Football games are all the rage these days, and there are plenty of them. EA FC is king of the hill for now, but there are rivals in the form of eFootball (formerly Pro Evolution Soccer) and UFL, a free-to-play option backed by none other than Cristiano Ronaldo. FIFA is still planning a comeback, too, although fans aren’t quite convinced yet.

So how does one forge a path in an increasingly competitive marketplace? Enter Jon Hare, a man who has been working on sports games since 1988 and whose track record with football titles is pretty unbeatable, having kicked off (geddit?) the Sensible Soccer series way back when.

Not unlike football dynasties of the past, Hare has led development of the number one football game in each of the last four decades – a staggering statistic however you slice it.

Now, with Sociable Soccer 25 bringing the spiritual successor back to console after a stint on mobile, I chatted with Jon about the challenges of making a football title in 2025, how he’s got a single dev handling stats, and much, much more.

The Modern Game means modern problemsIn the years since Sensible Soccer launched, the worlds of football and videogames have both evolved exponentially. I was curious as to what Hare thought was the biggest difference in developing a football title now, versus back in the nineties.

“The biggest change now is the divide between licensed sports simulations and the other rather retro looking cartoony non-licensed sports titles,” he explains. “Also, there is now a big division between console and mobile platforms and free to play and premium titles.”

“Back in Sensible Soccer’s heyday, when Sensible World Of Soccer was voted one of the 10 most influential games of all time by Stanford University, the market was less divided and people were happy to accept more arcadey gameplay delivering a true sports title.”

If you’ve been hankering for that retro feel, though, you’ve Sociable Soccer likely has you covered. Hare says the team is “seeking to blend the best of arcade gameplay and licensed content across a wide array of machines,” with Fortnite and Rocket League mentioned as inspirational touchstones.

Jon Hare is an industry icon(Image: Jon Hare/Playstation 5)It also marks Hare and his team’s return to consoles after a series of mobile-only titles, and that’s something the team has wanted to do for some time.

“We always intended the game to be totally cross-platform, modern tools like Unity enable us to do this,” he explains.

“We actually started the game in 2015 focusing primarily on PC and consoles, but 2 and a half years later the first commercial deal we were offered was for the mobile versions of the game in China, so we switched focus at this point to mobile.”

“One year later in 2019 we also picked up a 5 year Apple Arcade deal for the game, the prime focus of this was iOS, but Mac and Apple TV were also supported.”

Hare says returning to console and PC has taken “considerably longer” than planned, even running cross-platform matches in the office but points out that platform holders (with no names named) require cross-platform games to be built to specification or risk not being on a platform.

“This has cost us many, many months of resubmissions and as a result it has considerably delayed development and publishing and meant that only the Steam and Nintendo Switch versions now support online play,” he admits, and points to the draw of the game’s offline Career Modes, but is frustrated nonetheless.

Scoring LicensesSociable Soccer offers its own unique style that’s equal parts a throwback and something fresh(Image: Jon Hare/Playstation 5)I was curious, with such a unique take on football gaming, how the process works for securing rights to players and teams.

“This was not an easy process,” Hare admits. “It took us 2 years of negotiation to get a deal in place with FIFPRO to license the 13,000 players.”

“FIFPRO represents the rights of players from many league associations around the world and is a one stop shop for gathering the rights to use thousands of players at a time. Thanks to them we now have all of the major EPL, La Liga and Serie A players in the game and many thousands of others too.”

With 13,000 players, those are a lot of stats to juggle, and while EA FC makes a big song and dance out of its ratings reveals each year, Hare’s team work in a much more refreshing way.

“Believe it or not, only one person, David White, does all of our player stat research,” Hare admits.

Which players will you look to collect?(Image: Jon Hare/Playstation 5)”He has been keeping alive and adding to a database of football teams and players around the world for many years and at one time was even helping to keep the Sensible World of Soccer game alive via annual data updates,” he explains, with Sensible World of Soccer now racking up 35,000 players thanks to David’s work.

Those rankings can be found on player cards in Sociable Soccer 25, and while Hare acknowledges there’s more than a hint of EA FC’s Ultimate Team to them, it’s clear the team felt it would add to the collection side of the game.

“Collectible, upgradable cards are a cool thing to add to a football game and an easy way to convey information about the licensed players in the game,” he explains.

“All of our player cards have the photo and name of the player plus their original club, nationality and overall skill level. Looking on the back of the card shows you their value, skills and preferred pitch positions, together with their 3D player model.”

Lace Up Your BootsSensible Soccer fans will find a lot to enjoy here(Image: Jon Hare/Playstation 5)Aside from its lofty inspirations and refreshing approach to its player database, I asked Hare what helps Sociable Soccer stand apart from its contemporaries, and how all of these titles can fit into a world where players have more choice than ever.

“EA Sports FC is certainly a great football simulation, but simulations are not the only way of presenting football in game format. Football Manager looks at the beautiful game from a management point of view very well. New Star Soccer has led the way in terms of minigame style football app and we believe that these types of football games will continue to flourish.”

“We also believe that the world is lacking a high quality, licensed, arcade style football game and we aim to claim that space for ourselves. The intense, adrenaline pumping kind of gameplay that arcade football titles can deliver simply cannot be matched by simulations like EA Sports FC, UFL and more.”

If you’re looking forward to playing, you may be surprised to know that anyone that owns the Early Access version of Sociable Soccer which launched in 2017 will get the latest version as a free update.

“Our aim right now is to get the game into the hands of as many people as possible. It is attracting new players that interests us most, there is no need to charge our pre-existing players again at this time,” Hare explains – a refreshing message for sure.

Sociable Soccer is out now on console and PC.

For the latest breaking news and stories from across the globe from the Daily Star, sign up for our newsletters.