| Developer: | Dinamic Software (1992) Dinamic Multimedia (1993 - 2001) Gaelco (2004 - 2006) |
| Publisher: | Dinamic Multimedia (1993 - 2001) Planeta DeAgostini (2004 - 2006) |
| Genre: | Football management simulation |
PC Fútbol was a series of football management simulation games developed by Spanish developers Dinamic Multimedia. It was one of the big successes in the Spanish PC market, spawning several titles from 1992 until the studio's closure in 2001. The series was later revived in 2004 by developers Gaelco and there were two more releases before the series final demise.
PC Fútbol was a significant hit in Spain; Marcas Marcos Anton wrote that it "became an absolute legend of the genre".[1] Its first installment sold 7,000 copies in Spain, while PC Fútbol 7 reached domestic sales of 360,000 copies.[2] The games were always sold at a budget price, usually in kiosks, and were always fiercely championed by the local press. Unlike most other football sims at the time, the game (since 2.0) allowed to take both player (dubbed arcade) and managerial approach to the game, a formula that was not used in mainstream games until Total Club Manager 2004 allowed FIFA Football 2004 owners to actually play the game (which in its turn was modeled after Ascaron's Anstoss series).
Former Liverpool player and Spanish television pundit, Michael Robinson was the face and voice of the game, and most of the season analysis inside the updates was signed by him. The game was one of the first licensed games - by the Liga de Fútbol Profesional - which meant that the developers were able to use real player and team names.
One of the most distinguishable features of the series were the updates; the game had a built-in calendar and league tracking utility and so owners of the game could connect to Dinamic's servers and update their data monthly. Some of the data (like photos) could not be fit inside a floppy, and data packs were made available in gaming magazines or via direct request. As the CD-ROM replaced the floppy versions (around 1996), there was no need for additional data packs, but there was still a final update (released in the end of the season) that would complete all league tracking data and Robinsons' comments.
The later games (2000 and 2001) were plagued by bugs, and although the updates assured a less problematic gaming experience, it had worn some of the userbase, who could finally have fully licensed alternatives from EA Sports and Sports Interactive (FIFA/Stars and Championship Manager, respectively). By mid-2001 PC Fútbol 2001 support ceased, and Dinamic closed shortly after. A complete modification ("mod") of the game was released shortly after, showing a still dedicated fan-base. A total of nine titles in the main series were released, the first simply numbered, and the final two 2000 and 2001, and sold around 1 million copies altogether.
In 2004, Planeta DeAgostini acquired the rights to the name and released PC Fútbol 2005, developed by Gaelco. It continued the "tradition" of bug-ridden games of the early games, and although it sold very well in December 2004 (second only to The Sims 2), most fans were disappointed with it.
After numerous attempts to revive the successful series, in 2023 the launch of the game on PC was announced, but in 2024 the pre-sale was suspended amidst much controversy.[3]
In 2024, the release of PC Fútbol 8, expected on April 30th on Steam was confirmed,[4] [5] but on 25th April, it was postponed to 17th May.[6] On May 15th, the release was postponed again to June 7th,[7] but on May 20th, another email from "Una partida más" moved the release date forward to May 27th.
By July 24th, 2024, the game had not been released, leading to considerable controversy.[8] [9] [10]
There were a number of titles released outside the main series: PC Calcio and PC Premier focused on the Italian and English football championships, and PC Clausura, aimed at Argentine market. Before the Euro'96, PC Selección'96, gave players the control of the Spanish team for the same tournament.
Since the first versions of the game were only available in Spanish, the series market was limited, but the success was wide. In 1994 Dinamic Multimedia decided to reach the Italian and Argentine markets and published PC Calcio and PC Fútbol Clausura. Both were successful and followed by other versions each year.
In 1996, Gremlin approached the Spanish company to develop new titles on their highly regarded Premier Manager series. Three games were released using the PC Fútbol engine, from 1997 to 1999. In 2000, EuroLeague Football, an English oriented version of PC Fútbol 2000 was released, published by Sold-Out Software.