JULY 14, 2014 • During the World Cup finals weekend American pro football star quarterback Joe Montana tweeted a tease for a new football video game, Joe Montana Football 16. The original series ran from 1991 to 1995 on the Sega Genesis and was published by Electronic Arts. That franchise embraced more arcade gameplay elements and featured 16 fictitious teams in its first two years before obtaining an NFL license for NFL Sports Talk Football ’93. If Montana follows through with a new installment based on the original blueprint, the game would not fall afoul of the December 2004 exclusivity agreement signed with the National Football league covering console and PC platforms. Online and mobile platforms can negotiate an NFL license, however. No further information regarding the potential title was disclosed.
Impact: Joe Montana Football is still fondly remembered for the quarterback’s edgy Sega television commercials as much as for the Genesis games they promoted. Part of the reason is that the game series kept on changing names during much of Montana’s active involvement. All these years later the pro football segment could use some new blood. The Madden NFL franchise is a solid performer, yet the series mostly delivers incremental advancements with each new addition. The case can be made that a strong competitor can also increase the raw number of football units sold. NFL 2K5 from 2K Sports was able to do this thanks to delivering a quality game at a discount $19.99 MSRP. Yet as we have noted before, there definitely is a place for Madden competitors despite EA’s NFL license. If a new Montana title goes the non-license arcade route once again we think there would be a profitable niche for that based on name recognition and a positive reputation. With the level of sophistication possible with both the online and mobile platforms, a serious revenue competitor for Madden NFL is also possible – one that could be made with an NFL license. So we are very curious to see what comes from Montana’s Twitter tease.
