Rebellion acquires The Bitmap Brothers brand, now where is my Speedball 2 sequel?

Speedball 2 is one of the best sports games ever created, and now there’s a chance that we’ll finally, finally get the sequel that the game deserves. Rebellion today announced that they have acquired The Bitmap Brothers brand and the former studio’s entire portfolio of games.

The Bitmap Brothers were prolific during the late 80s and early 90s, creating such games as Xenon, Z: Steel Soldiers, Chaos Engine and, of course, Speedball. All of these are now in the hands of Rebellion to do with as they please. It’s part of a growing portfolio of classic games and licenses, which has seen them remaster 2000AD shooter Rogue Trooper, revive Battlezone as a pioneering VR title, and return to create Bond villain management sim Evil Genius 2.

Rebellion will be bringing those classics to modern platforms, as well as “going forward to create new titles based on its beloved licenses.”  So that’s basically confirming Speedball 3, right? Right?

Presumably while sketching out in his head how you’d go about modernising such an iconic video game bloodsport for the modern day, Rebellion CEO and co-founder Jason Kingsley OBE said, “We’re delighted with the addition of The Bitmap Brothers to the ever-growing Rebellion portfolio. The Bitmap Brothers are renowned for making great games and for bringing gaming into the mainstream with inimitable style. We’ve known Mike Montgomery for many years, and we’re honoured by the faith and trust that he has shown in us by passing on the torch. We’ll strive to be vigilant custodians of one of gaming’s great names.”

Sadly any future Speedball plans might take a little while to come to fruition. Though Rebellion has been expanding in recent years, adding TickTock Games as Rebellion North, Radiant Worlds as Rebellion Warwick, and more, large parts of the combined studio will be busy at work on other less exciting games, like Sniper Elite VR, Sniper Elite 5 (which is set to be revealed sometime next year) and Zombie Army 4: Dead War. They’ve gone and started making board games, such as Sniper Elite the Board Game with new team and brand Rebellion Unplugged.

Source: press release