While the NFL is mired in controversy over sociopolitical flare-ups that have caused massive dips in the ratings and forced America to become divided over the personal politics of the players, those of you who want to get away from all the nonsense and silliness and get back to having fun without having to be bombarded by corporate messaging and race-baiting outrage culture can dive deep into the politics-free outing of Axis Games’ Axis Football 2018.

The game recently released on the Steam store to the tune of $19.99. However during the first week of being on sale you can grab a digital copy for 10% off.

The game features a full roster of fictional teams based on American football. There’s a fully playable Franchise Mode, and detailed customization for every player and team you can take to the field.

New for this particular outing is penalties, the overhauled Franchise Mode, 1000 new plays, 50 new formations, new uniforms, six new stadiums, a completely redone control system and animations, improved stat tracking, and upgraded player attribute handling and AI. You can see what the gameplay is like with the launch trailer below.

Now take note, this isn’t running on the Frostbite and it doesn’t have the latest in lighting or dynamic-procedural animations. So don’t go in expecting the same kind of visual fidelity that you would get from Madden NFL 19.

However, the game does show promise, and if Axis Games can maintain growth for the series, improve the animation blending for next year’s outing and keep integrating and implementing incremental upgrades, I think it could end up being a soft competitor to EA’s long-running franchise.

And speaking of franchise… the Franchise Mode sports a fully robust league system where you’ll have complete control of trades, player contracts, hiring in free agents, dealing with retiring players, coping with injuries, forming practice squads, setting up team seasons, and working through a dynamic tiered league structure complete with promotions, regulations, and playoffs.

And given that this is a PC game, there’s a complete integration of modding tools so that you can modify everything from uniforms and player portraits, to team names, colors, logos and rosters.

The feedback for Axis Football 2018 has been positive so far, but the team isn’t satisfied with just launching a product, they’re intent on building a brand, which is why they have a fully robust post-launch roadmap consisting of upgrading, improving, and fixing the game based on player feedback, as noted in the Steam community post.

As mentioned at the top of the article, you can purchase Axis Football for $19.99 from the Steam store right now.