Niche sports are officially back with the announcement of Snooker 19

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Ronnie O'Sullivan headlines 128-player roster – and it's coming to Nintendo Switch

Ladies and gents, niche sports are officially back en vogue. First came the announcement that Cricket 19 would be coming to all the major consoles, including Nintendo Switch, this summer. Now you'll be able to go from hitting sixes to 147s inside a single evening, with Snooker 19 arriving in the spring.

Leamington-based developer Lab42 has confirmed a 128-player roster for its officially licensed chalk 'n' baize sim, with Ronnie O'Sullivan, Mark Selby and Ding Jinhui among those who've agree to have their mugs and cue-hands recreated digitally. Most pleasingly, and much like Cricket 19, it's coming to Nintendo Switch. You can see a trailer of the game in action here:

This will be the first officially licensed snooker offering in eight years, with O'Sullivan also front and centre of the sport's last marquee sim, WSC Real 2011, on PS3 and Xbox 360. That series started out just down the road at Codemasters in 2001, and Lab42 confirms on its website that it has some Codies' alumni on-staff – so fans of those PS1 and PS2 classics are sure to be catered for with this new game.

The studio says Snooker 19 will include a comprehensive suite of tournaments and modes for both on and offline play. Venues include Alexandra Palace and The Crucible, and live links to the actual World Snooker calendar, with virtual tournaments occurring alongside their real-life equivalents, sound particularly exciting.

“It’s been way too long since the last flagship snooker title,” says Justin Forrest of Lab42. “We’re hugely excited to finally give players a snooker simulation worthy of this increasingly popular sport. The combination of official World Snooker licensed content, high quality, authentic gameplay and TV-style presentation, Snooker 19 is the complete package for both newcomers and hardcore fans.”  

Snooker 19 is released for PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and PC in Spring 2019. Want some more niche sports while you're here? Then enjoy our guide to the 11 best current football games that aren’t called FIFA or PES.

Ben Wilson
Ben Wilson
Freelance Writer

I'm GamesRadar's freelance sports editor, and obsessed with NFL, WWE, MLB, AEW, and occasionally things that don't have a three-letter acronym – such as Chvrches, Bill Bryson, and Streets Of Rage 4. (All the Streets Of Rage games, actually.) Even after three decades I still have a soft spot for Euro Boss on the Amstrad CPC 464+.