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Joe Montana Football 16 Is a Mystery Unreal Engine 4 Sports Game in the Making

The video game was teased by Joe Montana himself

Mar 18, 2015 14:45 GMT  ·  By
Joe Montana Football 16 teaser
   Joe Montana Football 16 teaser

It seems that a new American football video game is in currently in the making, namely Joe Montana Football 16.

The game was announced by the legendary NFL quarterback himself, via Twitter, showing us a screenshot and the Unreal Engine 4 logo.

Along with the image, the retired football player said "It just got Unreal" and provided the #joemontanafootball16 hashtag, hinting at an upcoming announcement.

This is not the first time that Montana teases us regarding a comeback of the legendary franchise bearing his name.

Joe Montana is a hall of fame quarterback who earned his reputation with the San Francisco 49ers and the Kansas City Chiefs, who starred in a popular sports series published by Sega in the early '90s, beginning with Joe Montana Football in 1990, and concluding with NFL '95, in 1994.

Now, developer Electronic Arts maintains exclusive licensing agreements with the NFL and the NFLPA, preventing other publishers from making console games using NFL teams and real players.

EA secured the exclusivity contracts back in 2004, and it's putting them to good use with the Madden NFL series, a popular sports franchise.

We might get an unlicensed football game, or another all-star title

Since the NFLPA deal only covers active players in the National Football League, this means that licensing for retired athletes is handled separately.

This was last done in 2K Sports' All-Pro Football 2K8, when Montana starred along with over 200 other retired athletes in 2K's only American football video game.

The latest tweet from the athlete points to a video game that is likely lacking the NFL and NFL Players Association licensing needed to feature real-world teams and the current players who star in them, which means that it would be free for release on consoles.

Since 2K Sports tackles many other sports, it's likely that a collaboration between Joe Montana and the publisher is behind the secretive Joe Montana Football 16.