Game review
Blood Bowl 3
5 / 10
- Developer
- Cyanide Studio
- Publisher
- Slitherine Ltd.
- Released
- 23 February 2023
- Platforms
- Windows
- Genre
- Strategy
- Monetisation
- One-time purchase plus a premium currency, battle pass and seasonally-released team DLC
- Players
- Online league and ranked multiplayer alongside single-player campaign content
The short version
Blood Bowl 3 is Cyanide Studio's digital adaptation of Games Workshop's fantasy football tabletop game, published by Slitherine Ltd. and released on 23 February 2023. It sits at 46% positive ("Mixed") across 3,397 English-language Steam reviews. This review read the 100 most-helpful negative reviews alongside the 100 most recent English reviews.
Forty-two of the 100 negative reviews read date to the 2023 launch window, describing a catastrophically incomplete release that devastated long-time fans of the acclaimed Blood Bowl 2. "I have nearly 2000 hours in Blood Bowl 2... At the moment, not only is the game a total mess," reads the single most-upvoted review in this outlet's sample, with 4,545 votes. This review found more recent reviews describing genuine technical improvement — "the game had been fixed/expanded," reads one 2025 review — but a distinct, persistent complaint kept the negative sample nearly as large in 2025 as at launch: teams locked behind a premium currency, a battle pass and a seasonal release schedule rather than being available at launch. "They locked all teams content behind a premium currency and a battle pass, and they are releasing the teams in seasons, despite having the ability to just have had all the teams out at launch," reads one representative 2025 review. Recent sentiment sits at 53% positive, a modest improvement on the 46% lifetime figure but still a weak result for a game now several years past launch.
Biggest strengths
- This review found credible evidence of genuine technical improvement in more recent reviews, with some 2025 reviewers describing the game as fixed and expanded relative to its 2023 state
- An updated tabletop ruleset that some longtime fans describe as a meaningful improvement over Blood Bowl 2's older rules
- Online league play remains functional for players willing to engage with the current team roster and monetisation structure
Biggest weaknesses
- The 2023 launch was catastrophically incomplete by wide agreement, with 42 of the 100 negative reviews read dating to launch and describing missing game modes and severe bugs
- A persistent, heavily-corroborated complaint concerns monetisation: teams are locked behind a premium currency, a battle pass and a seasonal release schedule rather than available at launch
- This review found the monetisation complaint's share of the negative sample nearly as high in 2025 as at the original 2023 launch, indicating a genuinely unresolved, ongoing frustration
Who it's for: Blood Bowl fans willing to accept team-gating monetisation for an updated ruleset and online play — go in with realistic expectations after the game's rocky, well-documented launch history rather than the standard set by Blood Bowl 2.
Our recommendation: Approach with real caution — the worst technical problems from launch appear to have genuinely improved, but the monetisation model locking teams behind a premium currency and seasonal releases remains a well-corroborated, persistent complaint years after release.
5 / 10
Introduction
Blood Bowl 3 is Cyanide Studio's digital adaptation of Games Workshop's fantasy football tabletop game, published by Slitherine Ltd. and released on 23 February 2023 at NZ$43.59. It updates the turn-based, dice-driven tactical football formula from the acclaimed Blood Bowl 2 with a newer tabletop ruleset. It sits at 46% positive ("Mixed") across 3,397 English-language Steam reviews. This review read the 100 most-helpful negative reviews of 1,840 total, plus a sample of the 100 most recent English reviews.
A catastrophic launch, by wide agreement
Forty-two of the 100 negative reviews read date to the 2023 launch window, describing a release that devastated long-time fans of Blood Bowl 2 specifically. "I have nearly 2000 hours in Blood Bowl 2... I'm an admin for one of the largest BB2 leagues... At the moment, not only is the game a total mess," reads the single most-upvoted review in this outlet's entire sample, with 4,545 votes — a credibility this review takes seriously given the reviewer's stated depth of experience with the franchise. Another, more blunt: "They launched the game incomplete. The only complete part of the game that worked as intended was the monetization aspects."
Technical improvement, and a monetisation complaint that didn't fade
This review found credible evidence in more recent reviews that the worst technical problems have genuinely improved. "The cosmetic microtransaction issues are not as bad as they once were... and the game had been fixed/expanded," reads one 2025 review. But a distinct complaint kept the negative sample nearly as large in 2025 (34 of 100) as it was at the 2023 launch (42 of 100): monetisation structure. "They locked all teams content behind a premium currency and a battle pass, and they are releasing the teams in seasons, despite having the ability to just have had all the teams out at launch," reads one representative 2025 review. This review found the complaint's persistence distinct from the technical-quality complaints that dominated launch — a deliberate business model decision rather than a bug, and one this review found no evidence of the developer walking back.
Verdict
Blood Bowl 3's reputation was earned honestly at launch — a catastrophically incomplete release that alienated the exact long-time fanbase best positioned to embrace it. This review found genuine evidence that the technical state has since improved, but a persistent, well-corroborated monetisation complaint — teams gated behind a premium currency, battle pass and seasonal release schedule — kept the negative sample almost as large in 2025 as at launch, and recent sentiment (53% positive) remains weak for a game several years past release. Approach with real caution: worth it only for players who can accept the current monetisation model as the price of admission to an otherwise functional tactical football game.
Pros and cons
Pros
- This review found credible evidence of genuine technical improvement in more recent reviews, with some 2025 reviewers describing the game as fixed and expanded relative to its 2023 state
- An updated tabletop ruleset that some longtime fans describe as a meaningful improvement over Blood Bowl 2's older rules
- Online league play remains functional for players willing to engage with the current team roster and monetisation structure
- A core turn-based tactical football game that, when functioning, retains the strategic depth fans of the tabletop original and its predecessors describe enjoying
Cons
- The 2023 launch was catastrophically incomplete by wide agreement, with 42 of the 100 negative reviews read dating to launch and describing missing game modes and severe bugs
- A persistent, heavily-corroborated complaint concerns monetisation: teams are locked behind a premium currency, a battle pass and a seasonal release schedule rather than available at launch
- This review found the monetisation complaint's share of the negative sample nearly as high in 2025 as at the original 2023 launch, indicating a genuinely unresolved, ongoing frustration
- Recent sentiment (53% positive) remains weak for a game several years past its original release, suggesting reputational damage that hasn't meaningfully recovered
Screenshots
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Blood Bowl 3Image: Slitherine Ltd. via Steam -
Blood Bowl 3Image: Slitherine Ltd. via Steam -
Blood Bowl 3Image: Slitherine Ltd. via Steam -
How the review scores each part of the gameWanderer Editorial -
The essentials at a glanceWanderer Editorial -
The short versionWanderer Editorial