We might be no closer to discovering exactly when Sony will announce their new PS5 console, with speculation suggesting we might have to wait until 2019 at the earliest, but we can already be certain it will be supported by the developers of all the most popular sports game franchises.
Image Source: Canadian Football 17 – Canuck Play via Twitter
Canadian NHL, CFL, NBA, MLB and MLS fans are fortunate enough to have a great choice of betting sites, when looking online to place wagers on their favourite local teams, accompanied by a broad range of live coverage across various TV channels and online. However, they seem to get the short end of the wedge when it comes to sports games, both on the PC and console platforms.
In many sports, Canadian teams are competing in USA dominated leagues, while their own domestic leagues have been largely ignored in the most popular titles. Nevertheless, we can hope that more expansive options might be available with future releases.
The Madden NFL series has been the staple diet of American Football fans for decades, but if you want to play as teams in the Canadian Football League, you’re out of luck. One of the difficulties perhaps is that there are slightly different rules and elements to the Canadian version of the sport, but fans have often hoped that EA Games might give it more credence in Madden. The nearest they came was DLC content for the mobile version of Madden, featuring legendary Canadian players.
CFL Football 99 was the last offering for Canadian fans to enjoy on the PC, but there is a ray of sunshine for the future. In 2017, Canuck Play launched Canadian Football 17 on Xbox Live and via Steam for the PC, and although the game doesn’t feature official league or team licenses, it could mean a possible PS5 version isn’t out of the question in the future.
We don’t need to worry too much about our National Hockey League favorites because there’s already a wealth of Canadian teams to choose from in the NHL series from EA Games, after they swept away the popular offering from 2K Sports. However, after including the ECHL in 2017 and European teams in the 2018 version, there’s always hope that especially given the developer for this game is based in British Columbia, they might introduce the Canadian Hockey League.
Image Source: NHL 18 – DualShockers via Twitter
MLB The Show has improved over the years, including “Road to the Show” taking a player through the minor leagues, but it’s unlikely we’ll see the much of note beyond the Toronto Blue Jays. It’s pretty much the same with both FIFA from EA Sports and PES by Konami, with just the Canadian national team and the three MLS sides; Vancouver Whitecaps, Toronto FC, and Montreal Impact. Neither are likely to devote any further attention beyond that.
Finally, perhaps considering that EA Sports and 2K Games continue their heated rivalry for the king of NBA basketball games, with both always trying to outdo the other, there’s always hope that their attention might turn to the sport in Canada, particularly considering its huge growth and development of excellent players over the last decade. There’s always hope the PS5 offerings might see more of a Canuck focus in future releases.
