“Sparkball will feel right at home on Switch 2 & hopefully it’s on the cards soon” – Interview with Opti Games CEO

Sparkball is the latest title by a developer to see if it fits into the esports scene, but this time, developer Opti Games may have a real chance of making it a reality. Currently available as a demo via Steam for PC and handhelds like Steam Deck, players can enter 4v4 soccer-like MOBA matches and play as ‘heroes’ with different abilities to get the ball in the goal and win the game.

Since the demo was made available on June 8, reception has been positive for Sparkball, with some already enjoying the fast-paced matches the game brings. With a tentative release date of the full game for the end of the year, we spoke to the CEO of Opti Games, Chandler Thomlison, about how Sparkball came to be and where the game could be heading, especially regarding esports.

As we start our conversation, Thomlinson recalls how LoL (League of Legends) inspired him to come up with Sparkball. “I’d grown up wanting to make video games, but fell into consulting instead after college. I was playing way too much League of Legends at the time, and I couldn’t stop thinking about how much I could improve on it,” Thomlison recalls. “After a few years, I had $50,000 saved up and some free time, so I figured it was finally time to chase the game dev dream and take them on. Unsurprisingly, it ended up costing FAR more than $50,000, and we abandoned our League focus pretty quickly, but the dream is still just as fun to chase as it was on day one.”

With Sparkball being Opti Games’ first project, we asked Thomlison why they went down this avenue first, instead of trying out different projects to test the waters. “Sparkball actually started as ‘the Modern Gamer’s MOBA,’ which in effect just meant a better League of Legends. I learned pretty quickly that was a VERY naive idea and we should instead focus on an alternate game mode to bring users in first,” Thomlison explains. “Huttball from Star Wars: The Old Republic was ingrained in my memory from the announcer’s voice, so we started there. It took forever to solve in MOBA/Sports format, but we eventually realised that we have something special, and should ditch the ridiculous idea of challenging LoL!”

Back in 2023, Opti Games hosted the Sparkball Ascension Invitational as a way for players to try out the game but also compete, as an early test bed to see how Sparkball could work at a real-world event. However, looking back, Thomlison has some regrets. “If I’m being honest, it’s that we were way too early to focus on things like that. It was an incredible experience to get to interact with esports organisations I’d been following for years, and seeing it showed us that Sparkball has serious potential as an esport for both players and spectators,” Thomlison acknowledges. “But we realised shortly after that focusing on organic community growth at this stage was way more effective. The tournament we held a couple of weeks after the event that featured Top 50 players from the community felt much more successful.

Whether there are plans for future tournaments going forward, Thomlison is enthusiastic about the idea. “Absolutely. We had community tournaments for the week of Next Fest and our big Top 50 Invitational the week after, which was the perfect showcase for what top-level Sparkball can look like.”

As it stands in 2025, many esports events are dominated by games like LoL, Fortnite, and Call of Duty, meaning it can be very challenging for new games to enter the category. But this doesn’t faze Thomlison, who thinks Sparkball could grow into its own niche. “My favourite story to tell here is that my wife, who calls me a nerd every time she catches me watching esports, will sit down and watch matches of Sparkball without issue,” Thomlison reveals. “Our strength is that the game feels relatable, and any casual sports fan can quickly understand what’s going on. Combine that with the fast pace and short game times, I think we’re well-positioned to carve out our own early niche in the space as we grow.”

There’s also the unavoidable rise of mobile esports, where more players are using their smartphones and tablets to play esports games like Fortnite, VALORANT, and soon Destiny: Rising. We put it to Thomlison whether mobile could be a potential platform for Sparkball someday. “Definitely. We’re fortunate that the controls and gameplay translate relatively easily to mobile, so it’s just a matter of time before we focus development there. In the meantime, we do work on Steam Deck and other handhelds.”

Finally, with the handheld market exploding in recent years, being led by Valve’s Steam Deck handheld, and the Nintendo Switch 2 setting records mere days after going on sale, we wondered if Sparkball could appear on Nintendo’s console someday. “We hope so! One thing we’ve specifically focused on with Sparkball is hitting that unique IP tone where both kids and adults love it, something we think Nintendo does incredibly well. Sparkball will feel right at home on Switch 2 and hopefully it’s on the cards soon!”

In our short time playing the demo of Sparkball, which you can download here via Steam, we came away impressed. Not only does the gameplay remind us of previous titles like Rocket League and Lol, but also Speedball 2 and Windjammers. The fast-paced gameplay, thanks to the small 4v4 matches that only last up to 15 minutes, and the different heroes with varying abilities, too, all add up to make Sparkball a great addition at esports events.

However, Opti Games would be wise to release Sparkball on as many compatible handhelds as possible once the game launches fully. With the recent announcement of the Xbox Ally X,  as well as the Nintendo Switch 2 selling over five million units in Japan just a week after launch day, the game seems perfectly suited to these devices.

Nevertheless, OptiGames and Thomlison seem focused on making sure Sparkball is not only a fun and unique game for when it finally launches, but it can easily be a part of several esports events worldwide — and there’s a good chance it can be.