Issue link: https://read.uberflip.com/i/1241493
But despite hockey fans getting their first taste of the franchise on their home ice that wasn't always the plan. "Ironically, I started the studio to create a non-licensed baseball video-game set in the 1920s, inspired by films like Field of Dreams and The Natural, and somehow I ended up making a licensed hockey game set in the future," said Ben Freidlin, CEO of Bit Fry. Developers went through several iterations of the design—including a so-called toy to life platform similar to Disney Infinity with both games and figures. Ultimately, Bit Fry landed on setting the game in a dystopian, near-future setting, where athletes come together to compete and play a positive role in the imaginative world. So fa r, " U ltimate R iva ls: The R ink " has received a positive response from not only bloggers and socia l inf luencers who cover sp or t s a nd ga mes, but a l so f r om ga mer s t h em s e l v e s d u r i n g B it F r y 's e x h i bit on t he show f lo or at PA X E a st i n B ost on i n late Febr uar y. One of the hurdles Freidlin and his team d i d h ave t o ove r c o m e wa s g ett i n g a l l o f the sports leagues on board. The Ultimate Rivals franchise features players from the MLB, NBA, WNBA, NFL, NHL and the U.S. Women's National Soccer Team—which means g etting the licensing rights from several leagues that normally don't overlap. Fr eid l i n cr e d it s not on ly h i s t e a m but a l s o a g r e a t t e a m o f s p o r t s m i n d t h a t helped h i m nav igate t he busi ness side of his ambitious venture. " While I don't speak for our licensors, I think we got this far by bringing a very compelling and original concept to the table, along with the kind of experienced video game design and production team that could pull this off in a credible way," he said. While the franchise is still relatively new, Freidlin said video games offer creators the unique opportunity to continue refining and growing their creations even after they 're released. Whatever challenges come their way, Freidlin is confident his team—like in the game—can overcome pretty much anything. "You can have the best ideas in the world but if you don't have the team to execute on them, you'll lose." P APRIL/MAY 2020 USAHOCKEYMAGAZINE.COM // 45 BONUS DIGITAL CONTENT Images and video courtesy of Bit Fry Game Studios