Pickleball Gets First Official Videogame | Sports Destination Management
 

Pickleball Gets First Official Videogame

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Sep 26, 2024

Pickleball is the fastest growing sport in America and is now coming to gamers across the world with today’s launch of PPA Pickleball Tour 2025.  Developer FarSight Studios worked closely with the Professional Pickleball Association (PPA Tour) to create the most realistic, authentic and fun Pickleball videogame on the market.  PPA Pickleball Tour 2025 is the only officially licensed Pickleball game available and the first to feature the world’s best players in real PPA Tour venues. Get ready to hit dinks, drives, ernes, ATPs, overhead smashes and test your reflexes in dink battles and fire fights!

 

Perfect for Pickleball players of all skill sets, or for those that just love the sport, the game is now available for Xbox, PlayStation (PS4 and PS5) and Steam for $49.99 at PPA Pickleball Tour 2025. The game is also coming to Nintendo Switch on July 26.

 

Game Features Include:

  • Play With More Than 16 PPA Pros - PPA Pickleball Tour 2025 features over 16 of the world’s best players, including the #1 ranked men’s player (Ben Johns) and #1 ranked women’s player (Anna Leigh Waters).  Gamers can also create their own character and play in “Career Mode” or “Quick Play” and will experience motion captured player movement for every pro in the game.
  • Collect Your Favorite Brands - Show your style with real-world Pickleball brands. Collect and equip your player with the latest paddles, shoes, and apparel from top brands including Selkirk, JOOLA, FILA, Paddletek, Vulcan, Os1st, Versix and Thorlo.
  • Create Your Own Character - Design your player’s look, style, and abilities to reflect your unique personality and playstyle. 
  • Career Mode - Players can level and increase their playing skills by competing and winning simulated PPA Tour events, in singles, doubles and mixed doubles.  Each tournament event features single elimination brackets where the competition gets tougher as you progress further in the tournament.  Winning a triple crown in Hard Mode is the ultimate achievement in Career Mode.
  • Quick Play - Perfect for a quick game, players can choose their character and hit the court for some competitive singles or doubles action.  Outwit and outplay advanced AI developed from analyzing professional matches
  • Experience Different Venues - Compete for a Triple Crown in PPA Tour events set at iconic venues in San Clemente, CA or Atlanta, GA in Career Mode.

 

“As the popularity of Pickleball continues to boom, we are proud to bring PPA Pickleball Tour 2025, the first officially licensed Pickleball video game, to market, allowing the tens of millions of Pickleball players to enjoy the sport on Xbox, PlayStation and Steam,” said Bobby King, CEO of FarSight Studios, developers of PPA Pickleball Tour 2025.   “Whether you’re strategizing how to beat your opponent with an Erne or testing your reflexes in a Firefight against Anna Leigh Waters and Ben Johns, this game has everything you love about the fastest growing sport in the USA!”

 

“Pickleball has truly gone mainstream, as players of all ages and skills are taking up the game, enjoying time with friends and getting some great exercise,” said Parker Roberts, VP of Revenue of the PPA.  “The launch of PPA Pickleball Tour 2025 represents the latest step in the game’s explosive growth and will help bring the sport to millions of new players.”

 

FarSight Studios and the PPA today also announced that they are bringing the game on the road, to professional Pickleball events around the country, with a booth on-site allowing fans in attendance to try the new game.  Events include:

 

Pickleball Facts:

  • Pickleball is the fastest-growing sport in America, with a 52% increase in participants from 2022-2023, more than 33 percentage points higher than the next fastest-growing sport. (Source: SFIA)
  • With current and projected ticket sales and anticipated revenue soaring, the PPA Tour is on track for a staggering 110% increase (more than 2x) in ticket sales from 2023 to 2024.
  • More than 20 Million people watched PPA Tour events live in 2023 across ESPN, CBS, Amazon Prime Video, Fox Sports and more.
  • The 130 contracted athletes on the PPA Tour will earn more than $30M in prize money and payouts in 2024. The Top 5 Ranked players on the PPA Tour will average $1.5M this year in prize money and payouts.
  • Players 18-34 make up the largest percentage of Pickleball players at 28.8% nationwide
  • Pickleball is the Official Sport of the State of Washington
  • In the summer of 1965, Pickleball was founded by Joel Pritchard, Bill Bell and Barney McCallum on Bainbridge Island, Washington. Within days, Joan Pritchard had come up with the name “pickle ball”—a reference to the thrown-together leftover non-starters in the “pickle boat” of crew races.

 

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