About eight years after Blood Bowl 2, developers Cyanide Studios and publishers Nacon have released Blood Bowl 3 for consoles and PC. The digital version of the 1980s Games Workshop game now uses the Second Edition ruleset.
Blood Bowl 3 continues the tradition of Cyanide of making a mostly faithful digital version of the physical board game. People who have played the board game or any digital version will know it hasn’t changed much. It is a violent parody of American football with fantasy races.
I am not sure this game will bring new people into the Game Workshop hobby, as while they play similarly, the process of participating is different.
Microtransaction and a battle pass system are new to this version of Blood Bowl. The Blood Pass, as it is called, last for three month seasons and allows players to unlock cosmetics and new teams. A paid version of the Blood Pass allows paid access to the team with the bonus season rewards. A currency called Warpstone, earned by playing matches or bought with real-life money, pays for cosmetics.
While I appreciate the attempt at making the game seem more active by introducing a battle pass system and seasons, I am not sure every game needs it. Also, as every game has one these days, there is too much competition on people’s time. It has to be great to really stand out. It is a cynical way of getting people addicted to your game.
As a person who suffers from OCD, amongst other things, achievements, battle passes, and other similar mechanics have ruined video games. Sure, they keep you hooked, but not in a good way.
There is now a new single-player campaign and plenty of teams to choose from.
The twelve factions (teams) available at launch: Orcs, Humans, Dark Elves, Dwarves, Skaven, Chaos Chosen, Elven Union, Nurgle, Imperial Nobility, The Black Orcs, Old World Alliance, and Chaos Renegades. The board game has twenty-eight teams so far.
I would be tempted by the game if they had a single-player version of the multiplayer leagues. An endless tournament league where you and loads of computer teams all compete to be the best.
Blood Bowl 3 might not even be better than Blood Bowl 2 at launch.
A Nintendo Switch version should come out later in 2023.
King Toko 