Come on guys, this game is unplayable at the moment. If you play offline you dont even need to defend. I can put down controller and still push opposition back. I am useless at all games and can never win on the hardest level of any game. On this game i win by 40+ in a 5 minute game on hardest level every time. Please just sort the AI . Apologies for the negativity but i just want to enjoy this game.
5 Likes
BA could you please just focus on Ai difficulty and decision-making for the next patch!!!
It cant go on like this
Played a URC game last night with lions against bennetonâŚbeat them 67-7 on hardest!!!
This is really becoming a joke now guys seriously!!!
Is this game ever going to be fixed properlyâŚlets just ask the question right now!!!
I would appreciate a response please and thank you.
6 Likes
Good point, I noticed this myself just yesterday. Kicked off with a top-speed crosswind and the ball went straight down the middle.
2 Likes
Hey fellas,
This patch felt like a few steps forwards then a few steps backwards at the same time.
Really hoping these gameplay issues are going to be addressed but becoming a bit concerning that the patches still donât seem to be addressing anything major mentioned by players which are really holding back the game from making any major improvements.
There are a few bugs in the game at the moment which are making it a bit unplayable.
Positives
- Continued updates
- Slightly better AI decision making
- New animations
- Kicking ability adjusted to players skill level
Areas for improvement
Bugs:
-The opposition has a quick throw in after youâve kicked the ball into touch. As soon as you tackle the ball carrier the game freezes. Clock keeps running but you canât do anything to continue play or get the ball. All the players just stand there. Which results in you having to quit the game.
-Kicked the ball out. Opposition player stands there with the ball, doesnât opt for a quick lineout and the game doesnât transition into the cutscene leading into the lineout. Just freezes similar to the other bug with the clock continuing to click, resulting in you having to quit the game.
Attack:
The biggest issue with gameplay is still the lack of depth on Attack. The support lines/angles, player movement and player positioning. Itâs so unstructured, lacks strategy and currently meaningless positioning. Looks like a free for all out there with no intent or plan.
Support lines have improved a lot but still very inconsistent. Finding that when the first receiver gets the ball from the half back, the support line are too deep which leaves the ball carrier isolated and destroys your opportunity to get any momentum on attack. Sometimes the support runners are running weird angles, either back towards the ruck, or flat footed and not supporting the ball carrier at all. Finding if the first receiver runs, the two outside players next to him donât keep up with him and itâs only the wing which creates a weird running line where two players get crammed in the middle and are left out of the attack, or if you pass the ball, it goes straight to those players standing deep rather then the wing who is keeping up with the ball carrier which kills any attacking momentum or flow.
Need to implement blocker and sliders, where you have the ball carrier, two players outside him with the outside player cutting on the inside angle to take the short ball off the ball carrier, and the middle player drifting/ sliding behind the player running the short ball line to give the ball carrier the option to pass out the back and feed outsides. That way the ball carrier has two options of support players running different lines/angles. This really needs to be added into the game to add some life to the attack.
Tactics - players arenât positioning themselves correctly to the tactic youâve selected. Players are still standing in the same position when I try change tactic. For example 1-3-3-1, forward pods donât position themselves correctly and the 10/ playmaker Is standing too deep. 10 needs to be positioned behind outside the forward ball carriers outside shoulder so they can receive that tip pass out the back then have the option to either hit a gap or feed the outsides or next forward pod outside 10. That is the whole plan with that move. Suck in defenders with the forward pod then create that space out the back for the playmaker and outsides.
You need to have the ability to control where you have your forward pods running, e.g off 9, 10 or 12. Otherwise the default needs to be a correct backline formation 10,12,13 with your wingers on either side with the 15 joining the line if in the opposition half. 10 is hitting too many rucks, standing blind or out the back out of play. Get them involved in the attack. Make it realistic. Need the 10 steering the ship.
Hope you guys make this a priority as would add so much more depth, realism, strategy and enjoyment to your game!
Rucks- Players a binding too slow which kills any opportunity to get quick ball and attack. Half your backline keeps getting sucked in to the rucks to which again ties in with player positioning. A good solution would be quick bind which is whoever is closest to the ruck or strong bind which will suck in just forwards to the ruck and will increase your chances of securing the ruck and winning the ball.
General Kicking - Need to bring in bombs/up and unders with descent height and distance to allow you to put pressure on the opponent, put pressure on with your chase line and try force an error or win back possession with your chasers competing in the air, giving the team a better position to attack up the field. The Aerial battle is a big part of rugby so would be cool to see it implemented.
Box kicks - Need to allow for a bigger distance when box kicking
Goal Kicking - Enjoying how a lot of players have their own kicking style. Find that whenever I aim away from the post it goes over and when I aim at it I miss. Need to sort this mechanic out as makes no sense.
Pocket kicker - Need to make sure the 10 is not running on to the ball when kicking otherwise it defeats the purpose of putting them in the pocket.
AI decision making - Still putting 30-40 points on AI even at the hardest difficulty. Should implement sliders as some other players have mentioned.
Commentary - Still seeing commentary calls not matching with whatâs happening on the field. E.g. Penalty kick for touch, commentator saying kicker has missed touch when the ball has gone out.
Player face scans - Will be awesome to see the South African teams and the European clubs have updated player face scans.
Teams lineups - Noticed a lot of the European club teams arenât starting their best players. Assuming because of international duty with the six nations but would be good to get this sorted.
Please start addressing a lot of these important gameplay issues asap. Really stopping any major improvement of the game until these areas are addressed.
Amazing having an awesome selection of licences, player scans etc but the game play is the foundation of the game and of most importance. We just want a real authentic simulation of rugby. Hopefully we have this stuff addressed soon but starting to lose a bit of faith as these issues are obvious as everyone is mentioning them but are still not being acknowledged.
Cheers for your hard work!
10 Likes
You have basically typed what I was thinking. Unfortunately for me,and maybe a few others, I like to simulate/watch games AI v AI. At the moment though with the AI being poor at best I get an awful lot of 0-0 final scores. Itâs disheartening when this happens. If Iâm lucky the ref may blow for an offside, and as long as the AI doesnât call a scrum which is most the time, there might be a penalty goal opportunity which results in 3 points. So the odd time Iâll get 3-0 result. All this on 20 minute halves btw and tried on all difficulties. Itâs no wonder players are winning 30-0 40-0 all the time. This is just one aspect of the game. The AI really needs sorting a long with the basic fundamentals of defending, attacking in rugby. Promising start and firm base to the game, just requires what everyone is saying to be put right, added, removed, etc to the game. I have faith in you Big Ant just please devote some of your time to this game as well as Rugby League 25 or whatever your working title is. Many thanks.
1 Like
Hi Big Ant,
Iâm a massive fan of your studio and was excited when it was announced you guys will be developing the new Rugby union game as all previous iterations in the last few years were horrendous.
I do like all the official licenses as this has most likely the most official teams in a Rugby union game ever.
Please! Please! can the AI gameplay be addressed more, I know itâs very difficult to code the AI to be competitive and balanced, but Iâm very confident you guys will get it right, the AI hardly ever scores due to their lack in attack, innovation and decision making, sometimes the AI has an overlap and they donât pass and just run straight into your player. Their passes needs to be more responsive same as the user controlled passing and also offload if the opportunity presents itself, The AIâs backline formation is way to deep and hardly every goes over the advantage line and because of this, you tackle them all the way back into their own 22 most of the time which forces them to box kick. When the AI is in your 22 they donât change their strategy and still stand way too deep and they end up from a perfect attacking opportunity back into their own 22 by just tackling them backwards as I mentioned.
So in conclusion, please make the AI smarter and creative on offense and balanced. If the AI can be addressed, this will make the game very fun.
From Tuesdayâs patch (25/03/2025):
Positives that I noticed from the AI, on hardest difficulty their defense is structured and they do have backup defenders when you make a line break which is awesome.
When the AI makes the big pass to their wing, the wing doesnât do the side step animation anymore, instead the wing changes their running line and not run just straight which is promising.
Very small changes I noticed, when you kick off the AI fullback isnât running back and forth anymore and standing still, itâs the same with when you take conversions or a penalty kick they donât run around anymore in the background which is very promising.
Game feels a lot smoother which is great.
Negatives, when you score a try the ref is sometimes non existent to blow the whistle, once you press the score button in goal the AI still tackles you which messes up the animation, I understand if you donât press the score button in goal the AI can tackle you and thereâs a change for a help up depending how they tackle you which is fine.
Sometimes when you score and lineup your conversion kick, the game stops and the ref blows the whistle late and you have to realign your kick again.
I played about 15 matches with the new patch and the invisible controlled player is still there, this happens when you do a late offload, line break and sometimes a normal pass and the AI canât tackle you, this happened in every match I played with an average of 4 times per match when this happened.
The quick line out is still broken.
I still down understand how the rucks works, however in real rugby union, you donât see a ruck turnover every phase so it is kind of realistic at the moment but the rucks needs a bit more tweaking and also remain balanced.
When you perform a forward pass you are still getting penalized for an offside.
Thank you for all the hard work and I canât wait for the next patch which will hopefully address the issues mentioned, this has the potential to be the best rugby game if all the bugs and AI is fixed!
PS. Iâm on the PS5
5 Likes
The way things currently look i dont think this game is going to change much.
Im now also starting to believe i wasted my money!
3 Likes
Even if it is fixed and our changes are implemented, which infairness, should be possible based on track record of fixing games, the game will have no playerbase. Reviews are complete and judgements made. They should re release as rugby 26 once its fixed with updated squads and kits to reinvigorate the game. Of course, us beta testers should not be paying for this update but I think it would be a shame if we get the game to a good stage and have no playerbase or interest.
Just did Ai Vs AI 40 minutes halves, score was 0-0
2 Likes
No wonder I get 0-0 on 20 minute halves. At least I donât have to try 40 minute halves as you have just answered my question. You know it was only a couple of weeks ago, if not less, that the AI did actually score a couple of tries against each other. Ok the result was most likely going to be 7-0 or 7-7, I even had a couple of 14-7 results. My point is 3 or 4 patches ago we were getting at least something. Now the AI gives you nothing. Itâs basically a mess in midfield, then a box kick. Then itâs repeated by the opposing side. The odd occasion the AI manages to get inside its opponents 22 it all goes backwards from there. 4 maybe 5 phases later they are box kicking from their own 22. Is that realistic?? Really?? I sound harsh because Iâve mentioned this every week now for at least 2 weeks. Iâm not criticising Iâm just trying to help you (Big Ant) and let you know what is happening in game at the moment. That is what everyone else is trying to do as well, help you. Hopefully like the previous guy just mentioned this gets fixed going forward. But I do get the feeling Iâll be mentioning this again after tomorrowâs patch and next weeks patches too. You guys have put this much effort in thus far it would be a shame to give up on the game and your faithful player base now wouldnât it? Remember we are trying to help and provide positive feedback not criticism.
2 Likes
Quick question, what do the star signs under your own players mean?
Main points from 3/25/25 update
Rucks are getting better , ( I finally saw a 1 player jackal without the bulldozer effect ,(more of this please) I also saw a 3 vs 2 player defensive counter ruck bind pushover (this also looked very good , more of this please) in essence most 1 player Jackels should be simple steals, or the offense holding on penalty or defense hands in ruck(if ruck forms), once the ruck forms, then it should be a 1 vs 1 , 2 vs 1, 2 vs 2, or 3 vs 2, or 3 vs 3 pushover , no 1 vs 3 counter ruck pushover, (get rid of 1 vs 3 pushover). And although still far away from a very good system, (the rucking system is improving little by littlle) as mentioned I think a very good system can implemented with the current 3 button system. bind button, steal button, and a counter ruck button (for the pushovers and clearing out) can be the Y button. You could press b+Y, b+b+y, b+b+b+y, depending on the situation. If you try to press x, on anything but 1 vs 1 then it would be a hands in ruck attempt , with risk of penalty.
The AI is still very weak, Argentina vs Wales on hardest difficulty 10 min halves Argentina(User) always wins by 2-4 tries against Wales (AI).
I like the offloads, but when trying them to deep into the tackle, should not happen or should go to ground more. This could also be dependent on the offload ratings.
Dummies still only work to left side only.
Fend button should more a timing thing to make them harder. Speed up the animation but have us time it, instead of just holding down and automatic overpowering fend.
Thank you Big Ant for continuing to improve, even though there is a way to go at least the updates are coming. There is some fun running rugby in the game, but the lack of AI difficulty takes the fun out of it.
4 Likes
GotBy
Those are visible only on carrer mode. Mostly Nationals competition, regarding RWC that is not (at the moment at least) licensed.
1 Like
Any idea on timeline for fixing training glitch? I am on latest update on PC and training in career mode improves stats but only shows during a match, it doesnât show on lineups, contracts, free agent or international squad selection.
Hopefully is a quick fix, as is working in matches, but is not visibly showing outside of that?
I havent got them in my career mode thats what im trying to say i dont know whats going on everyone i speak to has selections from pic one and two but what i have is in pic three i dont know why
1 Like
GotBy
Ok thats wrong
Additional suggestion I thought of today:
For the line out options I think it would make more sense for 7 person to be assigned to the X button down to triangle for 3 person as a full line out is generally the default.
When the AI gets penalties Iâve never seen it kick for goal, and it weirdly chooses scrums in its own half.
I think the default penalty choice (unless more than 10 points down) should be to kick at goal if in range. And it should only choose scrum when very close attacking the try line.
Even though I make a lot of mistakes, I canât get a yellow card.
1 Like
When did you start a new career from scratch? These werenât there at launch but BA have slowly added more over the weeks
2 Likes