Global football federation FIFA announced its return to gaming with free-to-play mobile experience FIFA rivals. Mythical Games, the developers behind NFL rivalswill release the new title in summer 2025. The game will use Mythical’s Web3 blockchain technology as part of a digital marketplace to buy, sell and trade football players.
The reappearance of the name FIFA in video games comes after the dissolution of the former EA Sports annual FIFA series, which lasted nearly 30 years and included more than 40 titles. This collaborative project has sold hundreds of millions of copies worldwide and has consistently maintained a place in the most purchased games of the year. After EA Sports and FIFA were unable to agree on a new licensing deal after FIFA 23, the discontinuation of the collaboration was announced. Subsequently, FIFA President Gianni Infantino promised a new top-tier gaming experience that would be the best available for football fans.
What are FIFA rivals?
As announced by the giant that governs football FIFA, FIFA rivals appears to feature very similar gameplay to its namesake’s long-time predecessor, and now competitor, EA Sports. Players will be able to create and manage their own football clubs and then use their chosen club members to compete in PvP matches. No gameplay footage or trailers have been released yet, but the arcade experience of fast-paced competitive matches is reminiscent of other football game simulations like Konami’s. eFootball and the best seller EAFC.
The main difference FIFA rivals from its competitors comes from the inclusion of the Web3 blockchain marketplace, which developers Mythical Games were the first to include on Android and iOS. This cryptocurrency technology includes purchasing and owning in-game assets, such as non-fungible tokens (or NFTs), on a decentralized market. Mythical Games has previous experience with the similar title NFL rivalssuggesting that its football compatriot will introduce a similar market for buying and owning football players, in exchange for real money.
Likely to attract a niche player base
Based on feedback from fans of NFL rivals, it seems like FIFA rivals The trend of blatant pay-to-win microtransactions in football games will continue. Fans of Mythical Games’ NFL mobile game boycotted the game at one point, with one Reddit user saying Arrogantyak2 stating that “Mythical keeps releasing broken packs or offering unattainable rewards if you’re not willing to spend thousands.“Players can probably expect a similar experience in the next blockchain football game.
The cryptocurrency experience in Web3 games is still relatively unknown, but as the market in similar games like EAFC is essential to the overall experience, players will have to wait and see how essential microtransactions will be to the game as a whole. At the moment, it seems very unlikely that FIFA rivals will topple EA Sport’s dominance as the leading football video game or even its mobile compatriot, EA Sports FC Mobile Football. A niche market of crypto enthusiasts and football fans might get a kick out of it, but gamers will have to wait until the summer of 2025 for more information on FIFA rivals.
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