Modern

Following the Codemasters acquisition of Sensible Software in 1999, Codemasters commissioned Kuju Entertainment to develop a modern revival of the franchise for PlayStation 2 and PC. The result, Sensible Soccer 2006, attempted to bring the Sensible formula into the sixth generation of console hardware. [1]

The game retained the top-down perspective and after-touch control scheme of the original but updated the visuals to 3D and added a larger roster of licensed clubs. Critical reception was mixed: long-term Sensible Soccer fans found it a reasonable tribute to the original formula, while mainstream gaming press compared it unfavourably to the contemporary FIFA and Pro Evolution Soccer titles.

Jon Hare, who had departed Sensible Software following the acquisition, was not involved in the development of Sensible Soccer 2006. The game was developed without the original creative team, which is reflected in the final product — technically competent but missing the instinctive design economy that defined the best Sensible Software titles.

In 2007, Sensible World of Soccer 96/97 was re-released on Xbox Live Arcade. The XBLA version preserved the original game faithfully — the top-down gameplay, the player database, the Richard Joseph soundtrack — while adding online multiplayer and leaderboard support. [2]

The XBLA release introduced SWOS to a new generation of players and demonstrated that the core Sensible Soccer formula still worked without modification. Its warm reception validated what long-time fans had always argued: SWOS was not a game of its time but a design classic that transcended its era.

After leaving Sensible Software following the Codemasters acquisition, Jon Hare founded Tower Studios. The studio produced a mobile version of Cannon Fodder in 2005, bringing the original game to mobile handsets. [3]

Tower Studios represented Jon Hare's continued commitment to the Sensible Software design ethos — responsiveness, wit, and economy — in a new commercial environment. Hare has remained vocal about game design principles in interviews throughout the 2010s and 2020s.