Cricket West Indies (CWI) has  announced a new licensing partnership with NextWave Multimedia, Nazara Technologies’ independent subsidiary, which will feature 27 of the West Indies Men’s team in the latest version of the mobile game “World Cricket Championship 3 (WCC3)”, the world’s No.1 cricket game on mobile.

The collaboration is the first time that West Indies players have ever featured in a mobile game with the West Indies being the first official cricket team to be featured in the game.

Twenty-seven players from across the Men’s Test, One-Day International (ODI) and T20 International (T20I) squads are featured in the game as well as the West Indies famous team kits and shield. CWI recently embarked on a new team licensing programme, in partnership with the West Indies Players’ Association (WIPA), which gives fans the opportunity to download, purchase and engage with licensed team products, driving additional revenues for CWI to invest back into cricket and to generate new revenues for the players payment pool.

WCC3 serves as a next-gen sequel to the World Cricket Championship 2. Leveraging advanced AI, NextWave Multimedia has used state-of-the-art gameplay feathers, realistic animations and professional commentary to give the players an immersive experience. To make the game more realistic, they have also added real-time motion capture of professional cricketers.

With the collaboration with the official West Indies team players, gamers will no longer have to play with fictitious player names, random players and jerseys. Instead, they will now be able to play with the real West Indies team. The game will feature the West Indies team in ODI, T20 and Test formats and include the official roster, player likeness and team kits of all formats. Player lookalikes, real player names and kits will add authenticity to the game and greatly enhance the gaming experience of the fans.

“CWI is excited that with WCC3, West Indies fans now have the opportunity to emulate their heroes and play with their favourite West Indies players on their mobile devices," said Dominic Warne, CWI’s Commercial Director.

"We want to provide access to the West Indies teams in different ways. Mobile and console gaming is a fast growing entertainment space which can also introduce the West Indies teams to new audiences. We’re sure that fans and gamers will enjoy this realistic mobile cricket gaming experience, giving them the chance to take on the world and win with the #MeninMaroon.”

Commenting on this collaboration, NextWave Multimedia, Co-founder and CEO, P.R. Rajendran said: “We are very excited about the collaboration of WCC3 and the official cricket team of West Indies. WCC3 is a unique, one-of-its-kind cricket mobile game in India that has gained the interest and admiration of many young players. In order to help our customers have a more realistic and immersive cricket experience, we have been working hard to integrate AI and build a real-time motion capture game. With this collaboration, our gamers will be able to play with the faces of the real West Indies team and I believe that will greatly enhance the experience for them. We believe this is a major step for us towards making WCC3 one of the most realistic cricket games in India.”

WCC3 is available to download immediately on the Google Play Store and will be available to download in the Apple App Store from the middle of March.