Beta testing will start on September 23. We are trying for a late October 2016 release of the game.

Here is some more info about what the new version includes, since many users are asking:

In 2011 we run a poll among WBM users asking what they miss most in WBM and the leading results were the following:
1. A more friendly user interface
2. Graphical match
3. Improve the simulation speed ( a faster game)
4. More Tournaments

Demands 1, 3, and 4 are already developed in the current status of WBM2.
There is no compare between old and new interface, game speed is 20 times faster and dozens of new tournaments where added since then.
We are not happy with the development of demand 2, and this is what delays the release.

In order to improve speed and interface we had to throw away all the old code and develop everything from scratch. For the interface we used the open source CGUI library (after we made a conversion for C#, which we also released as open source).
We also got rid of MS Access db and moved to SQLite, moving all queries from db to the code.

But apart from the above list, that the users asked for, we have already added many more new features like support for Mac OS, cloud support for your saves, so that you can use the same save on different computers and platforms wherever you are.
We have also improved many other game features that the users have asked for again and again in facebook, forums and emails. Just to name a few:
– The game now keeps a full history of stats and news for all Tournaments, Teams, Players and Managers forever and not only for the current season.
– Teams now keep more native players in their rosters.
– There are 500% more transfers of signed (not free agent) players.
– The user can now actually sell players if they are any good.
– Contract durations are more realistic.
– You can take academy players in the match roster and use them in the match without the need to sign them.
– You have a full control on the Academy players training in detail, so that you can shape them before to sign them as pro.
– Team cohesion is split in Defensive and Offensive and the managers have a new attribute, called mentality that determines if they create defensive or offensive teams.
– All psychological problems algorithms are improved and there are new categories like the player’s concern about his general form and training program.

There are dozens of new features and improvements in game realism and algorithms that are impossible to mention them all here, but we are sure you will all notice as you play the new game.

At the same time data researchers did their part to update the database and add new players and teams.

All of the above is a huge amount of work for a small team like ours with only 3 core developers.

We hope to have everything ready this autumn (including 2D match) and if not we will release what is already developed and we are happy with, (so that we will not lose another basketball season) and the rest will be added in future versions.

As you know our standard policy is not to sell a new version of the game every year like other sport management games do, but to give all updates for free.
So a user that bought WBM in 2009 got for free all updates for 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015. The same will happen with WBM2 and every game we will ever release.
So even if a feature is missing in the first WBM2 release, the user will get it for free with the next update.

The plan still remains for a late October release and a December engine and data free update.