Kick-off 2022
In the summer of last year, the publisher Kalypso Media and the developer studio 2tainment announced the new football manager Kick-off 2022. It was financed at least in part by a very successful Kickstarter campaign, everything seemed to have gone smoothly so far. But now dark clouds are moving over the project: Kalypso Media has announced that it is withdrawing from the cooperation.As a press release shows, there have been some differences in the recent past between the publisher and 2tainment, both sides but do not want to comment in more detail. There is also talk of a few delays in development, which in total led Kalypso Media to decide to terminate the cooperation. Simon Hellwig, the managing director of Kalypso commented:
"After a very, very careful evaluation, we came to the conclusion that we as Kalypso would like to concentrate on other projects. We know that we have many Backers of the Kickstarter campaign and fans of Kick have disappointed, in which we could not deliver a beta version in the planned time frame and we regret this very much. But we are convinced that 2tainment can deliver a more flexible result without our cooperation. That is why we have the license rights transferred to 2tainment for this game. " says Simon Hellwig and adds that "all Kickstarter backers will receive a free download key (GOG.com) for" Kick 3 "as a small compensation in the next few days, which Kalypso and GOG have jointly made running on current PCs. "
However, the end of the cooperation does not mean the end of kick-off 2022. As Stefan Weyl from 2tainment announced, the development team wants to continue working on the football manager together with the community. The starting shot for a beta test should be given in the course of the next week. However, there is still no specific release date for the game.
Source: Press release
When is the Champions League draw? Key dates for Man City and Manchester United in 2021/2022
Clubs across the Premier League have already discovered their domestic road maps for the 2021/2022 campaign - but what about those in the Champions League?
Chasing a fourth title in five seasons, Manchester City kick-off their latest defence against Tottenham, before they embark on early meetings with Norwich City, Arsenal and Leicester City.
Manchester United are, meanwhile, simultaneously setting their sights on bitter rivals Leeds United, Southampton, Wolves and Newcastle United.
It's after those opening four Premier League games that the top European competition will take centre stage.
Won by Chelsea at the expense of Pep Guardiola's star-studded team last season, the 2021/2022 group stage is set to kick-off on September 14 and 15.
Of course, preliminary rounds and qualifying are already underway, while draws for those stages have been made.
However, with a number of places still up for grabs alongside City, United and other elite clubs in Europe, the draw for this season's group stage will not be held until late August.
As always, the top-four in the Premier League will be joined by 28 teams from across the continent.
Qualifying as the English champions, City are set to form part of Pot 1 alongside the likes of Atletico Madrid (Spain), Bayern Munich (Germany) and Inter Milan (Italy), while beaten Europa League finalists United have been included in Pot 2 - as have La Liga giants Barcelona and Real Madrid.
Here is when the Champions League draws will take place and general key dates for the 2021/2022 competition;
Champions League 2021/2022 draws
- Thursday, August 26: Group stage (12:00 CET)
- Monday, December 13: Round of 16
- Friday, March 18: Quarter finals and semi finals
Who do you think will win the Champions League next season? Let us know in the comments section below.Champions League 2021/2022 key dates
- June 22 to August 25: Preliminary rounds and qualifying
- September 14/15: Group stage matchday 1
- September 28/29: Group stage matchday 2
- October 19/20: Group stage matchday 3
- November 2/3: Group stage matchday 4
- November 23/24: Group stage matchday 5
- December 7/8: Group stage matchday 6
- February 15/16 or 22/23: Round of 16 first leg
- March 8/9 or 15/16: Round of 16 second leg
- April 5/6 and 12/13: Quarter finals
- April 26/27 and May 3/4: Semi finals
- Saturday, May 28: Champions League final