Blood Bowl 3 had a problem. A lot of people played it alone, and nobody wanted to admit it.
The game’s developer, Cyanide, has confirmed that between 70 and 80% of Blood Bowl 3 games were played solo in Eternal Leagues. That is a huge majority, and it comes with a warning: the game’s AI was so bad that people who preferred multiplayer were convinced the solo players didn’t exist at all. Now we have the numbers to prove it.
Cyanide programmer Mathieu Valero told Wargamer about the stats directly. “It was a mess, like there’s no two ways about it,” he said of the game at launch. The AI was a major issue, and the company is working on fixing it for the next version.
The Numbers Behind Solo Play
The solo-versus-multiplayer debate has been running for years, but Blood Bowl 3 has finally provided some actual data. Between 70 and 80% of games were played solo in Eternal Leagues, meaning the majority of players were facing off against the CPU rather than each other.
Valero explained that the AI was a significant weakness at launch. “We didn’t have an AI—now we do,” he said. The goal is to give the computer a better grasp of the game’s factions and builds.
He also acknowledged that the human touch matters. “Give something reliable to the AI, and you’re gonna have a game to play,” he said. But he noted that the AI struggles with complex combinations that humans can pull off. “There are still a bunch of factions and builds that it’s more able to play well: you want to give it Guard and Block, and don’t go fancy with the combos that a human would be able to do.”
The result is a game where the solo experience was far more common than anyone admitted. And the multiplayer crowd, it turns out, was wrong.
“Nobody plays this game in a different way to me and my friends, and anyone who says they do is lying.”
That quote captures the frustration perfectly. Both sides were convinced the other did not exist, and the stats show that the solo players were right all along.
What Valero Said About the AI
Valero’s candour about the game’s flaws is refreshing. He did not try to hide the problems; he described them bluntly. The AI was a mess, and the company is trying to fix it.
The improvements are not just cosmetic. Valero said the UI has been significantly revamped, with the homepage getting a major overhaul. “The UI has been significantly revamped,” he said, noting that the old homepage was “a gigantic waste of space.” Now it will be “a customizable set of tiles,” which should make navigation easier.
The pinning feature is a small but useful addition. “When you go on the main page of a competition you can pin it to your home if you wanna go back to it,” Valero said. That means players will no longer have to hunt through submenus to find the season they were halfway through.
The Free Upgrade Plan
Blood Bowl 3 is being replaced by Warhammer Blood Bowl, and the new version is being published by Slitherine. Owners of Blood Bowl 3 will get a free upgrade to the new game.
The release is currently planned for the end of the year. Valero’s comments suggest the AI improvements are a key part of the package.
Why This Matters
The irony is that the multiplayer crowd was wrong. They thought the solo players were few and far between, and the numbers show otherwise. The majority of players were always playing alone, and the game’s design reflected that reality.
The takeaway is simple: the solo experience matters. A lot of people play alone, and the stats prove it. The free upgrade means owners do not have to buy a new game to get the fixes. That is a fair deal, and it shows the publisher is willing to support the existing player base.
For the record, the multiplayer players were wrong. The solo players were always the majority, and the stats prove it. The game’s history is a cautionary tale about assumptions, and the numbers are the final word.
Source material: “Between 70 and 80% of Blood Bowl 3 games were solo,” PC Gamer.
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