Electronic Arts has announced its plans to release a UEFA Euro 2008 title to coincide with the UEFA Euro 2008 event itself. The new title will be released to retail in Europe on the 11th of April, in time for the UEFA EURO soccer tournament this June in Austria and Switzerland.

The developers of UEFA Euro 2008 will strive to create a lifelike recreation of the excitement of the world’s most famous sporting competitions. Powering the game will be an updated version of EA Sports’s soccer engine that has been retooled to ensure an easier, speedier, and more responsive gameplay experience in addition to duplicating all of the teams and stadiums which will be used in this year’s UEFA Euro soccer competition.

Those who take the challenge of playing through the UEFA Euro competition will be able to choose between taking one of 50 different European national teams from qualification to a simulated version of the championship soccer tournament. There will also be a novel feature introduced to the game that will be titled "Captain Your Country" and provides players with the means to start on the playing field and make their way through to the captaincy of their team. Also, players can join interactive in-game celebration of their victories that add a whole new level of excitement to the game.

EA has also announced that a mobile phone version of UEFA Euro 2008 will be provided through all major operators when the game is released. This version will sport a single button control system that has been developed to make the mobile phone version of UEFA EURO 2008 an easily usable 11 vs. 11 playing experience.

Steven Humber, the lead producer of UEFA EURO 2008, said that the new title “celebrates the passion fans have for their national teams by capturing all of the national rivalries in-game, and enabling you to captain your country or play as your heroes and inspire them to glory”. Mr. Humber also added that EA has “taken our football engine to another level and added innovative new features to create a videogame that captures and simulates the real-world experience and all the emotion of this tournament.”

UEFA EURO 2008 is currently in development by EA Canada and will also see an international release for the Xbox 360, Playstation 3, Playstation 2, and PSP. The European version will be sold in PC and mobile versions.