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0 As someone who usually focuses on the action on the pitch, I had never really considered just how much planning goes into hosting a major football match. Copa City offers a chance to step into that role and see what it takes to get a city ready. Released on the 16th June, Copa City is available on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S for £32.99. However on PC players can pick it up for £26.95. Developed and published by newcomer Triple Espresso, the game puts a fresh spin on football. It shifts the focus away from the players and onto the people responsible for making match day happen. The question is, does Copa City earn its planning permission, or does the whole project collapse before kick-off?
City Planning in Progress
Football games usually have you scoring goals, lifting trophies, and questioning your defence. Copa City takes a different approach, tasking you with managing the countless moving parts required to host a major football event. From organising fan zones and transport routes to ensuring supporters are safe and entertained, the focus is on everything that happens before the first whistle.
You can take charge of events in the lead up to match days for six licensed clubs, including sole English representation Arsenal. Joining the party also are German giants Bayern Munich, Brazilian ballers Flamengo, and Turkish titans Beşiktaş. It is a unique premise that immediately caught my attention and made me eager to see how it all came together.
Gameplay
Copa City presents at launch two game modes, beginning with a campaign where you step into the role of City Captain. An eight-step tutorial introduces you to Victor Mendez and his assistant, Katrin Weber. Katrin is the one who guides you through the basics. Over the course of roughly an hour, you’ll learn how to handle essential matchday preparations such as organising food vendors, managing fan seating, and coordinating event infrastructure. The tutorial culminates in a German Cup Final between Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund. Once completed, you unlock Free Play Mode, allowing you to choose from six teams and three locations where your scores are ranked on a online leaderboard.
What immediately sets Copa City apart from traditional city builders is its sense of urgency. The clock is always ticking, meaning you rarely have the luxury of perfecting every detail before a new challenge demands your attention. Every event requires careful consideration of entertainment, transport, safety, and accessibility, all of which directly influence fan satisfaction in the lead-up to kick-off. Different groups of supporters have different expectations too. Ultras want a lively, festival-like atmosphere, families prefer a safer and more welcoming environment, while casual supporters sit somewhere in the middle. Balancing those competing demands becomes a key part of the challenge.
Inner Workings
Your responsibilities extend beyond the city itself and into the stadium. Fan segregation, concession placement, and other matchday logistics can all be adjusted before the gates open. However, getting to grips with Copa City isn’t always straightforward. Despite the lengthy tutorial, it only scratches the surface of the deeper systems at play. The interface also feels better suited to mouse and keyboard than controller. Some actions require more menu navigation than necessary. The camera can be awkward at times too, particularly when switching between local planning and broader city management views. None of these issues are severe enough to undermine the experience, but they do introduce unnecessary friction into what is otherwise a compelling and refreshingly original management simulation.
Graphics & Audio
Copa City is not the most visually impressive game on the market, but it doesn’t need to be. Rather than chasing realism or spectacle, it focuses on creating an atmosphere that feels authentic. The cities have a genuine sense of life to them and watching waves of supporters fill the streets instantly brought back memories of travelling to matches and seeing entire city centres transformed into a sea of club colours. The inclusion of licensed clubs and stadiums adds a welcome layer of authenticity. It helps to make each event feel like a real football occasion. During my time with the before launch build, I did notice some performance hiccups when crowd numbers became particularly large. However, I would expect many of these optimisation issues to be addressed in the day-one patch.
Audio is not the star of the show, but what is here does its job well. The background city noise, crowd reactions, and chants all help sell the illusion that a major football event is taking place. Something with the scale of a Champions League final. The atmosphere feels suitably busy and energetic without becoming overwhelming. The cities themselves have clearly been recreated with care. In Rio de Janeiro, for example, landmarks such as Copacabana Beach and Christ the Redeemer are instantly recognisable. These little touches help give each location its own identity. There is not a huge amount to discuss from an audio perspective, but the sound design complements the visuals nicely. It helps to reinforce the lived-in atmosphere that sits at the heart of each city.
Longevity
Copa City has one of the most original concepts I’ve come across in quite some time. It convinced me to give the game a chance despite not usually being drawn to this genre. At launch, the package feels fairly limited, with six teams, three cities, and two game modes available, alongside two additional teams included in the Deluxe Edition. However, the foundations are promising. The real test will be how the game evolves. Expanding the roster of teams, introducing new locations and modes, and offering a wider variety of challenges could transform Copa City from an interesting idea into something with genuine staying power. Whether Copa City becomes a long-term success or fades after an encouraging debut remains to be seen. It is certainly a project worth keeping an eye on.
Verdict
Copa City takes a refreshing approach to the football management genre by shifting the focus away from what happens on the pitch. It instead puts you in charge of everything that surrounds matchday. Organising transport, entertainment, security, and fan experiences creates a unique challenge that helps the game stand out from the crowd.
That said, issues with the interface and camera controls can make the experience more frustrating than it should be. Even so, Triple Espresso deserves credit for taking a risk on such an original concept that feels genuinely different. While it ultimately wasn’t a game that clicked with me personally, fans of management sims and football culture may find plenty to enjoy here.
For its solid foundations, ambition and originality, I’m awarding Copa City a Thumb Culture Silver Award.
Disclaimer: A code was received in order to write this review.
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