‘Power Jam: Roller Derby’ embodies the dedication and athleticism of what is tipped as the fastest-growing amateur women’s sport in the world. Taking off in it’s current incarnation in Texas, USA in 2001 there are now over 1200 derby leagues across the globe from the USA to Egypt to the UK to Sweden, and with more leagues popping up every month, including recent developments in men’s and junior leagues, the sport is only just getting started in taking the world by storm.William Barr, Director of BillyGoat Entertainment, is extremely passionate about the sport and has a clear vision of a game that will appeal to the derby and gaming worlds alike: "Roller derby is unique, I can't think of another full contact sport started and played in the majority by women. We want to create a game that does the sport justice, as well as helping to introduce roller derby to a wider audience by being highly attractive and accessible to gamers who’ve never heard of it before."
‘Power Jam: Roller Derby’ is part real-time strategy, part management game based on the most recent incarnation of the sport, subscribing to rules of the WFTDA (Women’s Flat Track Derby Association). The ‘career mode’ will reflect all the aspects of running a derby league from training to bouting and everything in between. Players will be able to hand pick their team from a roster of pre-designed skaters, or customise skaters using the in-depth character editor.
The team behind the game have worked closely with a number of roller derby leagues to ensure an authentic representation of the sport, most notably Belfast Roller Derby4 in Northern Ireland’s capital city. Fionnuala “Dempsey Hammer” Dempsey, BRD’s head of PR, is very enthusiastic about the project: “As a gamer and a derby skater, I couldn’t be more excited about this project and I’m really looking forward to getting to play Power Jam! Jonny, Will, Gareth and the team have worked really hard with our skaters, referees, non-skating-officials, committees and board to ensure that the game accurately represents modern roller derby under WFTDA rules, and I think it will have plenty of appeal to the derby and gaming communities alike. With such an accurate, realistic and exciting project planned and the obvious costs involved, if we’re going to be successful we really need both groups to support the Kickstarter campaign to help turn this dream into reality.”
Gareth Gray, Creative Director of Iglu Media explains why the team have chosen to use this option to source the necessary funding for the video game: “Kickstarter affords small companies the opportunity to raise capital, without relinquishing control of their projects. It allows us the chance to establish a fan-base early on in development and to use that fan-base as a source of feedback which will inform the final game.”
The developers of the game are looking to the derby community of fans and players, and the gaming community as a whole, to support the Kickstarter campaign both financially and by offering further advice to ensure the gameplay is both fun and in-keeping with the sport. The campaign can be found on the Kickstarter website under the name ‘Power Jam: Roller Derby’, and includes a video showcasing the plans for the project including elements of the gameplay, character customisation, and hard-hitting action from some of Belfast Roller Derby’s recent training sessions.
With such an exciting project based on such a fast-paced, all-action sport, if the Kickstarter campaign is successful ‘Power Jam: Roller Derby’ is sure to be one of the best new games to hit the market in the coming year.
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