Rugby League 22 was a personal concept project developed in 2022 to explore a potential new visual direction for a rugby league video game, following industry speculation around the return of the franchise and a possible reset of the existing series. The project was conceived as an opportunity to visualise contemporary cover artwork tailored to Australian, New Zealand, and English markets, reflecting current trends in sports video game design.

As a self-initiated project, the brief was to conceptualise a new look and feel for a rugby league video game cover that felt modern, premium, and commercially viable. The focus was on creating artwork that could translate across multiple markets while remaining recognisable and cohesive as part of a broader franchise.

I developed the concept, visual direction, and final artwork independently, taking ownership of the creative process from initial ideation through to execution and presentation.

The approach prioritised a clean, photographic style aligned with contemporary sports video game trends, where realism and strong athlete imagery are favoured over heavily illustrative treatments. A restrained colour palette was used to unify different cover athletes, including James Tedesco, John Bateman, and Shaun Johnson, with subtle textures applied to add depth without distracting from the imagery. The overall design was intentionally kept simple to ensure clarity, consistency, and broad market appeal.

The project resulted in a series of concept cover artworks and supporting mock-ups, with the Australian cover design serving as the primary execution. The concepts were presented through social media posts and visual mock-ups to demonstrate real-world application.

The concept received a positive response from the public, validating the visual direction and reinforcing the effectiveness of a simplified, photography-led approach for sports video game branding.

This project highlighted the importance of consistency and restraint when designing for commercial entertainment products, and reinforced how a strong, unified visual system can elevate concept work and make speculative projects feel grounded and credible.