FIFA has announced a portfolio of web3 games to entertain football fans ahead of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022.
It has licensed several projects, including the AI League football game Altered State Machine. Players take on the roles of coaches and owners of AI teams tasked with honing their skills and swapping characters for the best skill combinations.
Upland, a blockchain-based metaverse for buying and selling virtual properties, is the second game. Upland has released details about its FIFA World Cup digital assets and collectibles. On its official website, Upland's digital collectibles appear to compete with FIFA+ Collect, which was developed in collaboration with its official blockchain partner, Algorand.
While NFTs are included in the Upland and FIFA+ Collect offerings, FIFA has avoided using NFT terminology, in part because cryptocurrency is considered niche, and some perceive NFTs as scams.
The announcement also mentions two games whose websites are still under construction. Fans can use augmented reality to create a digital reward with Phygtl. Fans can purchase a limited edition gold orb shard imprinted with a World Cup image or video.
MatchDay is a prediction game based on soccer cards that uses the Solana blockchain. It's similar to the NFT fantasy game Sorare, in which players use NFT player cards to build their dream team.
Another World Cup sponsor, Crypto.com, also runs fantasy football games on the official FIFA website.
"We are confident that web 3.0 will play an important role as we continue to build our future gaming strategy," said Romy Gai, FIFA's chief commercial officer.
The launch of web3 games for FIFA is significant in more ways than one, given that these blockchain games are FIFA's first forays since the end of its long-term partnership with EA.
In fact, the FIFA+ Playzone fantasy games mirror the popular "Ultimate Team" gameplay in the FIFA 22 video game. According to EA's 2021 annual report, Ultimate Team generated $1.6 billion in net revenue across multiple sports, including FIFA.
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