Ubisoft Announces Pure Football For May Release News

In what is a first for the French publisher, Ubisoft has announced plans to launch Pure Football in May of this year ahead of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, where it will face off against EA Sports' officially licensed 2010 World Cup title.

Despite what appears to be a lack of World Cup licensing for Pure Football, the game nonetheless features official players, international teams, and kits. According to the press blurb, 270 "elite footballers" will be playing for 17 international teams in the game, as well as the addition of 17 "legendary players" as well (presumably one for each country).

Judging from the screenshots and announcement trailer, Pure Football is reminiscent of EA's FIFA Street series, with graphically stylised players, 5-a-side matches, and football arenas more suited to a sports brand ad than a professional match (i.e. it's more jumpers-for-goalposts than it is Wembley).

Online multiplayer will feature 1 vs. 1 match-ups with leaderboards to boot, while local multiplayer can be played with up to 4 players. Ubisoft is also touting an over-the-shoulder camera style for the game, although the publisher has not confirmed any platforms for the game's release at this stage.

In  addition, Ubisoft also sent us over some details on its next move with the Shaun White brand. We'll bet you all saw this one coming: Shaun White Skateboarding is set to launch at the end of this year. This follows the release of Shaun White Snowboarding in 2008 and a follow-up title exclusively for Wii (Shaun White Snowboarding: World Stage) last November.

"I can't describe how excited I am about the skateboard game. We've been working on it for a while now and it's ready to melt minds," revealed the 'dual-sport professional' himself, Shaun White.