Cricket Captain 2023 Release date and Features

[Sureshot]

Cricket Captain 2023 releases on Steam on 13th June. iOS, Android and Mac on 15th June. Switch is being aimed for a June release pending all approvals from Nintendo.

Cricket Captain 2023 puts you in control. Create your own legacy. A packed international schedule includes the oldest Test match rivalry in cricket as Australia tour England, the test championship final and 2023 World Cup. Test match cricket was shaken up by a new aggressive approach in 2022, nicknamed Bazball, creating some of the most thrilling matches in history. Our new aggression system, inspired by Bazball, uses batting ability and natural aggression based on the current batting tactic, rather than the type of match being played. A generation of cricketers brought up on 20 Over Cricket have naturally aggressive styles that mean many have higher one-day averages than first class. Batting aggressively to match their natural style can improve performance. Equally, knocking runs off at 12 an over is natural to players in the last overs of a 20 over (or even Test) match.

Cricket Captain 2023 also includes historical data for international player rankings and player recent form, including recent performances in Test, ODI and 20 Over Internationals. International team ranking has been remodelled using results of every match in the four-year window. New wicket keeper statistics are also included, with separate fielding stats for keepers and outfielders, as well as byes conceded records. Wicket keeper abilities are also now more accurate.

All domestic systems have been updated to include the latest developments in India, South Africa and around the world.
Key features for 2023 include:

• Match Engine: new Bazball inspired player aggression and rating system.
• Updated International Team Rankings: calculated from last 4 years results.
• International Player Rankings: with historical data, all-rounders and improved system.
• Asia Trophy: play in ODI and 20 Over International tournaments.
• Player Form: includes historical data, opposition and an updated system.
• Recent Internationals: recent international player form graphs.
• Wicket Keeper Statistics: keeper and outfield catches, byes conceded.
• Wicket Keeper Ability: greater accuracy for keeping ability.
• Stadium Model Updates: including new Perth stadium.
• New South African Franchise League: six new teams.
• Indian Domestic System: major update to all competitions.
• Domestic System Updates: all systems updated to latest rules and formats.
• Improved Player Generation: rebalanced with focus on player aggression.
• New Kits: including international and Australian 20 Over.
• Test and ODI Championships: updated for the 2023 season.
• Tournament Modes: play in stand-alone One Day or 20 Over World Cups. Create your own World XIs, All-Time Great and Custom Match Series.
• Interface: improved screen layout and flow.

Complete Stats Update for the 2023 Season:

• Updated player database with over 7,500 players.
• Added historical keeper and outfield stats.
• Updated versus, ground and team records with partnerships, bowling and batting records.
• Updated domestic squads for all 146 playable domestic teams.
• Updated recent series stats for all players.

[1iram1]

Disappointing not to see the full Bangladesh domestic system year after year. Only the BPL seems to be included but first class and the DPL would be nice as well.

[ChrisUK2020]

Not much response, shows how tired this game is and the developers are being ignorant of their fanbase and just putting out and update and expecting people to pay for it

Everyone should refuse to buy the game

[GrahamB]

Not much response, shows how tired this game is and the developers are being ignorant of their fanbase and just putting out and update and expecting people to pay for it

Everyone should refuse to buy the game

As a beta-tester, I can tell you that the FC/Tests matchplay is the best I've seen in years.
I can't comment on the shorter forms, but I do know that there was a lot of focus on getting them better.
There will be at least one new animation added, but I'll leave that for Sureshot to divulge.

I think that you need to remember that this is not a big company producing this game, just a few keen enthusiasts.
Without a big budget, you can't expect everything, but they do deserve our support.

[hallmitchell]

As a beta-tester, I can tell you that the FC/Tests matchplay is the best I've seen in years.
I can't comment on the shorter forms, but I do know that there was a lot of focus on getting them better.
There will be at least one new animation added, but I'll leave that for Sureshot to divulge.

I think that you need to remember that this is not a big company producing this game, just a few keen enthusiasts.
Without a big budget, you can't expect everything, but they do deserve our support.

Graham, good points. I have my money ready every year to buy this game. Batting aggression and a pixel update on Lords is not enough for me to purchase another title. I want to buy, i just can't. Even if there was a choice of say uniform changes or a legends tri tournament option? I know it's a small team and they have done great work to create the best cricket game of all time. In the era of kickstarter, i just want to say i want more if you want myself to keep buying year in year out. The game needs a shake up. I don't want to be disappointed every year because the game is doing cosmetic changes.

[AVaughanCoverDrive]

Are there any plans to seriously develop the game and move it on to the next level, or is the plan to continue to churn out an annual game with virtually no improvement, year-on-year? I don't mind supporting a game company if there's plans to make improvements, but the last time this game made a big overhaul was in 2007 when the 3d engine came out.

The game has barely changed since the first version in 1998. The game is actually missing things it had then, such as player pictures and ground names, and there are so many basic improvements that could be made - e.g. bowling speeds; seeing who the opposition captain is; morale system; updating the rankings system (which was changed in real life in 2003!); a tour editor; actually creating a system where small test nations can play five test series, not just be locked into the state they are at the beginning of the game (Cricket Coach managed this), more stats; and plenty more - but are continually missed/ignored.

Right now, the game is shallower than many mobile games, but still charges a normal £20-£30 price, which is astonishing for all the wrong reasons.

Yes, there's not a big company producing this game, but I don't see that as an excuse because the gaming world is littered with small, indie developers who do make improvements, enhancements and alterations to their game. One such game is The Political Process, which I believe is developed and maintained by just one person, and that one person has made more improvements and enhancements to his game in three years than Cricket Captain has in 25. And that's just one example.

I don't know what the sales numbers are like for the game, but if this forum is anything to judge by then they're in steep decline. That said, this is the only game of its type out there, and I'd happily support this game if there were plans to seriously upgrade it.

[hallmitchell]

Are there any plans to seriously develop the game and move it on to the next level, or is the plan to continue to churn out an annual game with virtually no improvement, year-on-year? I don't mind supporting a game company if there's plans to make improvements, but the last time this game made a big overhaul was in 2007 when the 3d engine came out.

The game has barely changed since the first version in 1998. The game is actually missing things it had then, such as player pictures and ground names, and there are so many basic improvements that could be made - e.g. bowling speeds; seeing who the opposition captain is; morale system; updating the rankings system (which was changed in real life in 2003!); a tour editor; actually creating a system where small test nations can play five test series, not just be locked into the state they are at the beginning of the game (Cricket Coach managed this), more stats; and plenty more - but are continually missed/ignored.

Right now, the game is shallower than many mobile games, but still charges a normal £20-£30 price, which is astonishing for all the wrong reasons.

Yes, there's not a big company producing this game, but I don't see that as an excuse because the gaming world is littered with small, indie developers who do make improvements, enhancements and alterations to their game. One such game is The Political Process, which I believe is developed and maintained by just one person, and that one person has made more improvements and enhancements to his game in three years than Cricket Captain has in 25. And that's just one example.

I don't know what the sales numbers are like for the game, but if this forum is anything to judge by then they're in steep decline. That said, this is the only game of its type out there, and I'd happily support this game if there were plans to seriously upgrade it.

Writing of rare brilliance.

[ChrisUK2020]

As a beta-tester, I can tell you that the FC/Tests matchplay is the best I've seen in years.
I can't comment on the shorter forms, but I do know that there was a lot of focus on getting them better.
There will be at least one new animation added, but I'll leave that for Sureshot to divulge.

I think that you need to remember that this is not a big company producing this game, just a few keen enthusiasts.
Without a big budget, you can't expect everything, but they do deserve our support.

Ok, But we do support them. We ask for improvements and it gets ignored, Virtually no cooperation from people involved either. It's only a game more to life i get that but you are asking people to stump up £25 to getting a data update when we can do this ourselves the Improved matchplay is better but its still nothing

No DRS (Which is a big part of Cricket) its a shambles lol

[ChrisUK2020]

Are there any plans to seriously develop the game and move it on to the next level, or is the plan to continue to churn out an annual game with virtually no improvement, year-on-year? I don't mind supporting a game company if there's plans to make improvements, but the last time this game made a big overhaul was in 2007 when the 3d engine came out.

The game has barely changed since the first version in 1998. The game is actually missing things it had then, such as player pictures and ground names, and there are so many basic improvements that could be made - e.g. bowling speeds; seeing who the opposition captain is; morale system; updating the rankings system (which was changed in real life in 2003!); a tour editor; actually creating a system where small test nations can play five test series, not just be locked into the state they are at the beginning of the game (Cricket Coach managed this), more stats; and plenty more - but are continually missed/ignored.

Right now, the game is shallower than many mobile games, but still charges a normal £20-£30 price, which is astonishing for all the wrong reasons.

Yes, there's not a big company producing this game, but I don't see that as an excuse because the gaming world is littered with small, indie developers who do make improvements, enhancements and alterations to their game. One such game is The Political Process, which I believe is developed and maintained by just one person, and that one person has made more improvements and enhancements to his game in three years than Cricket Captain has in 25. And that's just one example.

I don't know what the sales numbers are like for the game, but if this forum is anything to judge by then they're in steep decline. That said, this is the only game of its type out there, and I'd happily support this game if there were plans to seriously upgrade it.

I have that game. It's improving with every version

But this is a superb post. It's (For most gamers) simple things which make it better. We can't even have a feature of creating our own Test Series. It's just a shambles. Get us involved and we would do loads of help but for a games which has barely changed in in 25 years YOU ARE LUCKY TO HAVE A FANBASE AT ALL.

[hitthestump]

As a beta-tester, I can tell you that the FC/Tests matchplay is the best I've seen in years.
I can't comment on the shorter forms, but I do know that there was a lot of focus on getting them better.
There will be at least one new animation added, but I'll leave that for Sureshot to divulge.

I think that you need to remember that this is not a big company producing this game, just a few keen enthusiasts.
Without a big budget, you can't expect everything, but they do deserve our support.

This tired excuse is as outdated as the game is.

If the poor, understaffed development team don't have the capacity to provide a meaningful update to the game within a time period of 15 YEARS....then how do they manage to release it on multiple platforms annually without fail?

They could easily just provide an editor so that long time fans don't feel like they have to fork out full whack for a database update every year. Or do the even more obvious thing and hire more staff?

There is no question that the developers are content with taking the fanbase for a ride and they aren't prepared to take this game any further than it has gone.

It's a free market so pay for it if you want to. But for me it's not the £20-£30 that i would miss so badly. It is the principle that a game i used to love playing has evolved into nothing more than a yearly attempt to exploit its fan base by pretending it's a new game when it clearly is not.

[Chris Child]

Thank you for your feedback. We are listening and will try to address as many of these comments as we can in the game and in replies. At the moment we’re flat out on development so please bear with us for the moment.

[ruby23]

As a beta-tester, I can tell you that the FC/Tests matchplay is the best I've seen in years.
I can't comment on the shorter forms, but I do know that there was a lot of focus on getting them better.
There will be at least one new animation added, but I'll leave that for Sureshot to divulge.

I think that you need to remember that this is not a big company producing this game, just a few keen enthusiasts.
Without a big budget, you can't expect everything, but they do deserve our support.

Completely understand and appreciate your sentiments GrahamB. But don't you think Sureshot at the least owes his fans (who've bought at least 5 editions or more) a simple Player editor to enhance the realism of the game? I will buy every year to support them, no doubt about it. But there must be some loyalty shown to the buyers who are loyal to you also ✌️

[moe]

I think there are some good points made here with regards to the disappointing lack of development in terms of game features.

I do look forward to the release each year and will start browsing these forums around this period to see when it's due to be released. When I read the suggested developments that posters make, you can see there are a lot of good ideas which would add a lot of realism to how a cricket game should be played.

Obviously, everyone has their own ideas on what should be implemented and it wouldn't be possible to put in place even half of the suggestions in reality. However, I can honestly say in the last 4-5 years, there's probably been 1 or 2 new developments max which I think have really improved the game overall.

It does seem to be these days that it is a database update each year, with possibly one additional recognisable new feature included. No offence but the wicketkeeping stats is not something I think most would have been looking out for.

I probably will buy the game when it's released and I get caught up in the Ashes. I appreciate the effort put in for what is probably quite a niche market but I'll be honest, without a significant improvement next year & possibly some earlier communication on what is being developed, this is likely to be the last time I buy Cricket Captain.

Just my thoughts anyway.

[ChrisUK2020]

Thank you for your feedback. We are listening and will try to address as many of these comments as we can in the game and in replies. At the moment we’re flat out on development so please bear with us for the moment.

Actual produce a game that is worth £25 instead of a data update with a colour change. We would love to see expanded/created tests, the ability to see who the oppo's captain is, Bowling speeds, DRS, Editors, More graphics, Pictures, Ability to take Minnow nations with a dynamic ratings system. Which the fans have been asking for 10 years. As i said with the way things have gone its lucky you have a fan base. ICC 2022 is behind Cricket Coach 2013. That's embarrassing

[ZH8]

As a beta-tester, I can tell you that the FC/Tests matchplay is the best I've seen in years.

• Does a specialist allrounder, as 5th bowler, get enough overs?
• Does the AI stop giving overs to a low-skilled, unrealistic, 6th bowler? (yeah, in CC Mushfiqur Rahim, for Bangladesh, gets overs in test cricket )
• Does the test keeper bat down in the batting order?
• We will get Bazball but does the Nightwatchmen rule exist?

The above statements are for FC/Test.

Now for limited overs:

• There is an additional aggression bar to cope with modern-day death overs; however, are there specialist death-over bowlers?
• Do an opening fast bowler stop bowling consecutively prior to the death overs to make room for part-timers, often spinners, , to bowl during the death overs?
• Simply, is there a dynamic tactic by AI to use its bowlers?
• Is there a rule for pinch hitters getting promoted to the order if situations demand?

Then, do regens get different hands for different skills? A feature I've been asking for the last 5-6 years.