When Copa City made its debut at the PC Gaming Show a couple of months ago, we were immediately intrigued. Described as the "first football tycoon" game, the idea is to manage everything leading up to a big football / soccer event rather than actually playing the sport itself - think EA Sports FC mixed with a heavy dose of Cities: Skylines.
Copa City has since been announced for Xbox Series X and Series S, which means we obviously reached out to the team to find out more. Narrative lead Filip Hillesland was kind enough to get back to us, and you can check out our full interview about the game down below!
Game Paradise: Hello! Firstly, could you introduce yourself and your role on the team at Triple Espresso?
Filip: Hi, my name is Filip Hillesland and I am dealing with everything narrative in the game, both in the design and content. So lots of football for me. I'm also responsible for directing audiovisual marketing materials, like our cinematic trailer.
Game Paradise: How would you explain Copa City? What kind of game can we expect?
Copa City is a tycoon in which you take on the role of an sports event manager for hire who is responsible for organizing premium football matches. Imagine any huge game like the opening game of the World Cup or the Champions League final. As fans we usually focus on what's happening on the pitch, but we rarely think of how these huge events come to life and the people responsible for literally creating life memories for thousands of fans.
This includes not only organizing the match itself but also taking care of safety at any stage of the event and the surrounding entertainment throughout the whole host city. In real life this can easily become a logistics nightmare and yet you still have event and venue managers who take on the responsibility because they believe the end goal is worth it. We want to recreate that balancing act of logistics pressure, while striving to create what we call football fiesta for the fans who will always be at the center of Copa City.
As the host organizer you have total control but also full responsibility. This means you have to build event infrastructure to accommodate the fans' needs throughout the whole city. Expand a transportation system to manage the capacity of the different districts and fan zones. Sign sponsorship deals to improve cash flow. Setup the stadium in a way where you can deal with the amount of fans who bought tickets. Expand marketing campaigns to different continents in order to create a global event with fans from all around the world, secure fans' marches to the stadium, manage clubs' demands and the list goes on…
As you can see the player will have their hands full, while the clock ticks as each day brings us closer to matchday. Also it wouldn't be a real tycoon if you couldn't do a bit of customizing.
Game Paradise: You've got some big licensed teams in Copa City such as Bayern Munich and Arsenal - can we expect even more to be revealed before launch?
Definitely. We have more big names waiting for the right moment to reveal themselves and not only teams. But that's all I will say for now. Wouldn't want to spoil the fun, would we now?
The idea came from the heads of the studio who have worked in professional football for years. They know the behind-the-scenes of that world and have been part of it at the top level. They realized that there is potential for a completely different football game that simply does not exist yet. A management game from the perspective of the event organizers. The next step was to complete an experienced development team, with many of us being football fanatics and then connecting us with different specialists from that world, from whom we could take inspiration and research the subject of sports event management.
Game Paradise: You must be really pleased with the game's reception since it was revealed back in June - the trailers racked up loads of views!
Absolutely! It was a super exciting moment and to be honest a weight off my shoulders, because we worked really hard on that trailer but in the end you never really know if your vision will stick and if other people feel the same as you. So it was a big relief but also great motivation to deliver the Copa City that people clearly want. Now we go back to work and hope to share more and more of the actual gameplay as soon as possible.
Game Paradise: This isn't just a PC game - it's on console as well. How will the game differ between PC and console?
Yes we want to reach out to as many players as possible, and offer the opportunity to create their own Copa City event! This means we want the gameplay to be the same on any technology in order for players to have the same experience. However, certain UI elements will need redesign for controller purposes.
We are in talks with the Xbox team and as we aim to be present on the next generation of consoles we are still in the process. We still have quite a way to go but we are comfortable with our current work.
Game Paradise: Could we see Copa City on Xbox Game Pass? What do you think about the service in general?
Xbox Game Pass is a great service which many people use, providing an expanding library of games, but we will see what the future holds for us. We are certainly interested in Xbox Game Pass, but don't want to promise anything before we are certain.
Game Paradise: Finally, is there anything else you'd like to share with our community about Copa City?
Get in touch with us on Discord and let us know what you think! We would love to incorporate your ideas and mold the final game into the best possible version. Football culture as well as gaming culture is very broad and complex so we would love some brainstorming action. Let's expand Copa City together!
