The game is being developed by Swordfish Studios, one of the UK's respected independent game development studios. Based in Birmingham and with over 10 year's development experience, the team was responsible for one of the most critically acclaimed rugby video games – Jonah Lomu Rugby. "World Championship Rugby will set the new benchmark for rugby games," commented Larry Sparks, Vice President, Marketing, Acclaim International. "The same highly talented development team, still together under Swordfish Studios, was responsible for creating one the greatest rugby games of all time. Since that original game the studio has received countless requests from gamers wanting a follow-up. I'm quite sure that fans of the original will be delighted to hear that the team is now committed to delivering the most compelling, hard-hitting, highly playable rugby game for next generation systems and PC. It will be a game that really delivers what they want - a game that's so real it hurts!" "We really enjoyed developing the original Jonah Lomu game; but with our cutting-edge technology, designing a rugby game for next-generation consoles is even more exciting. We are totally focused on ensuring World Championship Rugby delivers on our promise to give gamers and fans the best rugby game yet." commented Trevor Williams, Managing Director, Swordfish Studios. World Championship Rugby will be released in April 2004 for the PlayStation 2 Computer Entertainment System, Xbox and PC.