Supermassive Games today announced that Big Match Striker, the unique new free-to-play PC football game is live and now available to download from www.bigmatchonline.com.

Created, tried and tested by gamers and grassroots football fans, Big Match Striker challenges real football fans to battle head to head in the ultimate championship of tactics and trivia.

Football fans of all levels will need to combine the skills of chairman, manager, player and fan to succeed as the Big Match Striker experience is a unique combination of football management strategy and trivia. Highly competitive, the game challenges every aspect of football fans’ knowledge and strategic skills as players customise and steer their teams to league and cup glory. The aim of the game is to take your team from lower division minnows to global super-club in a dynamic battle for titles and silverware. During each match, players are challenged on their knowledge of the latest facts and news surrounding the top four tiers of English football, as well as famous footballing moments and goings-on from the wider football world, making Big Match Striker the most up-to-date online football game.

Players move up the pitch, win possession and tackle the opposition by responding quicker to questions, which require a basic level of football knowledge and lightning-fast reactions. Questions are posed by the game’s very own ‘legend in his own lunchtime’, Roger ‘The Gaffer’ Gaffney.

The reward for winning matches is gaining fans and in-game currency – Smackers. These are used to buy players, new strips, franchises, upgrade stadiums and even install burger vans to attract more fans and generate more revenue to enable progress to the league’s higher echelons.

Committed players are able to purchase more ‘Stamina’ to play a greater number of matches. ‘Stamina’ also regenerates over time, allowing players to compete in a limited number of competitions for free. Player interaction and community plays a key part in the Big Match Striker experience. The community hub at www.bigmatchonline.com features lively player forums where players can customise their profiles, invite friends and create their own Friends Leagues. A dedicated team of Big Match Stewards is on hand to offer advice to players when required. The website also features up-to-date news and opinion from the English leagues and the wider world of football.

Big Match Striker also boasts a stunning soundtrack, courtesy of Rob da Bank’s Sunday Best Recordings. Players players can listen to a feast of different music, including hip hop duo dan le sac Vs Scroobius Pip, dub and big beat maestros Dub Pistols, electro wizards Grand National and much-hyped Lucky Elephant, plus many more top-class contemporary artists. Big Match Striker will be updated with a new track each month, keeping players in tune with the latest releases from the label.

Geraint Orchard-Bungay, Online Publishing Director said: “Everyone at Supermassive Games is incredibly excited to announce the launch of Big Match Striker. We’ve worked long and hard on the game and listened to feedback from gamers and football fans alike and I think we have succeeded in creating a totally different kind of football game. We believe that this game raises the bar for free-to-play games and is much more like a boxed product that you’d normally expect to pay £40 for at retail. With stunning graphics, the most up-to-date football facts and trivia, a huge depth of game play, amazing soundtrack and great commentary, all wrapped up in a unique comic style, quite frankly, it’s the dogs!”

The free-to-download PC game, which launches in early September, is highly competitive and will challenge all levels of football fans’ knowledge and strategic skills as they battle in one-on-one clashes to meet the game’s main objectives – to win titles and silverware, and attract more fans to their club.

Players enter competitive leagues, and can set up leagues with their mates. During matches, players are challenged to answer both historical and constantly-updated questions on the English Football League and its 92 clubs, and on top international action. Every player’s footy knowledge is continually assessed across 10 categories and their Big Match IQ is updated accordingly. Categories include Football History, Up-to-date Football League and Premiership, World Cup 2010 and Football Trivia.

“This new release of screenshots shows off the unprecedented depth for a game of this nature, with in-game awards of Fans and Smackers, the game’s in-game currency, and more than 100 achievements for reaching career milestones and getting the best from the breadth of features within the game. There are achievements to be won from the outset, and some are fiendishly difficult to achieve,” commented Supermassive’s Online Publishing Director, Geraint Orchard-Bungay.

“When it comes to proving which fans are the most savvy, Big Match Striker will sort the men from the boys. You can kid your mates, but your Big Match IQ is undisputable proof of your amazing football knowledge…or your lack of it!”

The trailer focuses on one of the most exciting and key features of the game; the community, where Big Match Striker players can meet, challenge each other, set up their own leagues, chat, brag about their success and rub their mates’ noses in it!

The website, acting as the game’s entry point and the home of the game’s community, is www.bigmatchonline.com. The site is constantly updated with the latest news and gossip, keeping players up to speed with the real-life game, as well as encouraging passionate debate and discussion on the forums. Players can set up their own profiles and use the avatar creator to stamp their own personality on the site.

Players can invite their friends to join the game and set up their own leagues. What better way to settle those pub arguments over who’s the real football fan?

“Football is the ultimate social game, whether it’s arguing with your mates over who knows most or shouting at the television pointing out the chap in the black may well have questionable parentage. What better way to prove just how much you know than setting up your own league, inviting your mates to join and showing them just who’s boss?” commented Supermassive’s Online Publishing Director Geraint Orchard-Bungay

The exciting new title is highly competitive and will challenge all levels of football fans’ knowledge and strategic skills as they battle in one-on-one clashes to meet the game’s main objectives – to win titles and silverware, and attract more fans to their club. Players will need to combine all the skills of chairman, manager, player and fan as the title blends the best in football management strategy and animated trivia games.

The game is currently being tested in closed beta trial mode.

BIG MATCH STRIKER LATEST INFOMERCIAL from Big Match Striker on Vimeo.

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Players will need to combine all the skills of chairman, manager, player and fan as the title blends the best in football management strategy and animated trivia games. The exciting new title is highly competitive and will challenge all levels of football fans knowledge and strategic skills as they battle in one-on-one leagues to meet the games main objectives – to win titles and silverware, and attract more fans to their club.

Players succeed by answering a selection of both constantly updated and historic football questions from English football’s top four tiers keeping the game concurrent with the real life action.  Players can win possession and tackle the opposition by responding quicker to questions, requiring a decent level of football knowledge and quick thinking. 

The reward of winning matches is gaining fans and in-game currency. This can be strategically used to buy players, upgrade stadiums and even install hot dog vans to attract more fans and progress to the leagues higher echelons.

“With a fun, entertaining and humorous style, ‘Big Match Striker’ is a new kind of game and we think it will appeal to football fans of all ages and persuasions” commented Supermassive’s Online Publishing Director Geraint Bungay. “The only requirements are a PC, an internet connection and a love of football. Our vision is to become the online destination of choice for football fans to contest, celebrate and share their knowledge and passion for the beautiful game.”

Player interaction will be a key aspect of the game experience. The games main entry point and community will be hosted online and will contain regular news and features from the game’s editorial team, weekly podcasts with lively chat and debate on the game’s latest talking points and discussion forums for players to interact with each other. The initial game download and subsequent updates will be available from the game website. 

Key features

Question Engine: One of the games unique features, an innovative and unrivalled question generator with a resource of thousands of football questions. It is updated daily with latest news and results from the English football league ensuring the game remains up to date with the real life football action. Categories are: Up-to-date Premier League, Up-to-date Championship, Up-to-date League 1, Up-to-date League 2, Player and Team records, World Cup 2010, World Cup Historic (1930 – 2006), Recent League Historic (last five years), Older League Historic (more than 5 years ago) and Trivia.

Big Match Bucks: Effectively your ‘wallet’ for buying additional stamina to play more matches in more competitions, or to exchange for in-game currency ‘Smackers’.

Smackers: The in-game currency which players accumulate as they win matches. The currency is a key part of developing and growing a club, as they can be spent on various assets such as larger stadiums, improved infrastructure, stamina, and new players.

The Community: There will be a website acting as the game’s entry point and the home of the game’s community, buzzing with players discussing all things football. As well as forums and chat rooms, there will be regular news and features stories from the games editorial team.

Weekly Podcasts: A specially created weekly podcast will be available for free download featuring latest news and gossip and lively chat covering all the football worlds latest talking points.

Player Stamina: As in the real life game, stamina on the pitch can only last so long. There are two main ways to manage stamina levels; topping up with Big Match Bucks, and staggering games to ensure that stamina is not used up too quickly.

Trophy Cabinet: Each player has a cabinet where they store their winnings.

Club Strategy: It’s not just a game of football knowledge, players are rewarded for effective management of all their strategic club assets. These include stadium expansion plans, revenue streams such as catering, merchandise and team playing tactics.

League Seasons: Each League season lasts three weeks in real time, creating the pressure and excitement level of any league competition whilst allowing enough time for each player to play the game as and when best suits them.

Artificial Intelligence: Whenever a player plays a match the evolving AI system stores their success and measures their playing style across all question categories, including speed and    accuracy, and mimics the player’s behaviour when an opponent plays against them allowing players to play when they wish, not when their opponent is also available.

Challenge your friends: Players can invite their friends, monitor their progress and compare performances, current league standings, and number of fans.

Quality graphics: Compared to many online free to play downloadable games the graphics and quality of the game are far superior.

Specialist cup competitions: There will be various cup competitions for players to enter and demonstrate their skills and knowledge. These cup competitions are played alongside your normal league games, just like the real football leagues.

Commentary: Adding to the friendly and fun challenge, the commentary is supplied by an in game commentator, adding a twist of banter and humour.