December 16^th, 2004 (1:17pm) - With Electronic Arts signing an agreement with the NFL to prevent any other company from producing licensed NFL videogames with real teams and players, you would think that many of the football videogame developments from Midway and Sega may have gotten sidetracked. While that may indeed be true, due to the "violence" feature in their Blitz games, the NFL had actually threatened Midway with stripping them of the license before the deal with EA had even been signed. Well, Midway is still in development with their next Blitz football game and this newest installment is one of the most interesting football videogame concepts that has ever been implemented into a videogame.

The new game is called Blitz: Playmakers, a new, unlicensed videogame exposing the harsh realism and troubling, behind-the-scenes stories of a fictional professional football league. Blitz: Playmakers has been in development at Midway’s Chicago studio for the past year in collaboration with a writer from ESPN’s controversial "Playmakers" TV series. Blitz: Playmakers goes behind the glitz and glamour of the game through a revolutionary campaign mode that explores the on-field violence, off-field fallout and front-office politics of professional football.

"Midway’s Chicago studio has laid the foundation over the past year for what is the ultimate alternative to watered down NFL sanctioned football games," said Steve Allison, chief marketing officer of Midway. "No longer bound to the NFL license, there will be no league restrictions on content and gamers will finally experience what makes playing a football videogame really fun: off-field controversies, dirty hits, excessive celebrations and much more. Blitz: Playmakers buyers will be assured of one thing - our game will include all the gameplay and fun the NFL won’t allow."

Blitz: Playmakers is scheduled is scheduled for a release on multiple gaming platforms in late 2005.