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Eidos to resuscitate Champ Man series

Tuesday, 13 May 2008 11:10
Despite additions such as ProZone, the Champ Man series has been seriously lagging behind Football Manager in recent years
Eidos has today revealed plans to resuscitate the ailing Championship Manager franchise, which has never been the same since Sports Interactive split from the publisher.

Apparently, the hiring of Roy Meredith, former global marketing director at Electronic Arts, will be the catalyst for a revival of the brand, lifting it "out of the doldrums".

In an interview with MCV, Mr Meredith said: "I think it’s fair to say that Championship Manager has substantially fallen short of where it should be.

"That’s why we need a new approach – as a game it lacks a creative spark, has suffered from unfocused management, and fallen into a rut."

Until 2003, CM was developed by Sports Interactive and, pretty much, had been a resounding and consistent success story. Sure, the 03/04 season version was, in comparison, pretty terrible, but on the whole, the series was excellent.

However, when SI decided to split with Eidos, joining forces with Sega to create rival (and soon to be market-leading) brand, Football Manager.

Mr Meredith spoke of a need to address the core failings of recent Champ Man games, and also addressed the "immature" competition between Eidos and Sega's games.

"There has been a recent history of direct competition between the brands that’s been unhealthy and immature. I believe we can exist side by side. Of course we need to compete – but it needs to be a healthy competition."


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