Backbreaker (video game)

Backbreaker
Developer(s)	NaturalMotion
Publisher(s)	505 Games
Engine	Euphoria
Platform(s)	PlayStation 3 Xbox 360 iOS Android
Release	PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 NA: June 1, 2010 EU: June 25, 2010 iOS NA: September 29, 2009 Android NA: May 5, 2010
Genre(s)	Sports
Mode(s)	Single-player, multiplayer

Backbreaker is an American football video game, developed by NaturalMotion, and released on June 1, 2010 in North America and on June 25, 2010 in Europe. It uses the Euphoria game engine, that determines animations dynamically rather than depending on canned animations. Backbreaker does not use teams from the National Football League (NFL) because Electronic Arts has an exclusive license to produce NFL games in its Madden series. The game relies on an extensive logo editor and team builder that was called "one of its silver linings." NaturalMotion announced Backbreaker in August 2007, with a targeted release date of late 2008. The game ended up being delayed until mid-2010.

Backbreaker received mixed reviews. While it was praised for the Euphoria animation system, realistic physical gameplay, and the logo editor, it was criticized for its weak online play, poor passing game, and lack of depth in single-player modes. The Xbox 360 version of the game received an overall rating of 54% from review aggregator Metacritic, while the PlayStation 3 version received a 58%. The iOS and Android version was given a rating of 4.5 out of 5 stars by Touch Arcade. A patch released on August 6, 2010, and alleviated many of the issues critics had with the game upon release and included upgrades such as improved AI, new play books and an enhanced replay feature.^[1]