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FIFA have partnered with the creators of NFL Rivals, Mythical Games, to launch ‘FIFA Rivals’, a Web3 mobile game officially licensed by the football federation.

The game will be mobile native and utilise blockchain technology, like its NFL counterpart, and be an arcade game rather than a full-scale simulation like EA FC (formerly ‘FIFA’).

Gameplay content has not been released yet, but gamers and fans will be able to create and manage their own football club, and level up or enhance their lineups to compete against other players player-versus-player (Pvp).

The game, like NFL Rivals, will be free-to-play, and like the American Football game will include in-game and web marketplaces that utilise the Mythos blockchain — letting players trade football stars. Mythos is the blockchain that Mythical Games use to build their Web3 functionality.

Mythical Games’ portfolio of games beyond NFL rivals includes ‘Blankos’ and ‘Pudgy Party’, based on the successful Pudgy Penguins NFT collection’s IP, launching in 2025. Nitro Nations is another game built on the Mythos Chain, although that is the only game in the ecosystem created by a third party game developer, and not Mythical Games themselves.

NFL Rivals is by far their biggest success, however, leveraging the IP to drive incredible numbers.

Since its debut in April 2023, these are the stats:

The mobile game allows players the opportunity to collect and trade officially licensed NFL player NFTs, with the NFTs in the game being player cards used to build out teams and compete in the game. Each player card has different rarity levels from common to legendary. 

It’s presumed that, although the game mechanics will change significantly, FIFA Rivals will have similar blockchain-enabled aspects.

There are also plans to integrate into the FIFA Esports ecosystem, as John Linden, CEO of Mythical Games said:

FIFA have had a volatile couple of years when it comes to licensing off the pitch, particularly in the worlds of gaming and Web3.

Most notably, their divorce from gaming veterans EA in May 2022 meant that ‘FIFA 23’ was the last EA soccer simulation game that would carry the federation name. It was reported that FIFA had increased their licensing fee to $1 billion for the naming rights, to which EA baulked, deciding to go out on their own going forward. Hence — EA FC.

Since then, NBA 2K creators Take Two have been rumoured to be the developer that would step into EA’s shoes, however, these rumours are unsubstantiated and so far quelled by Take Two leadership. Outside of this, FIFA has continued development in Roblox, but this has largely been the extent of their orthodox gaming footprint since divorcing from EA.

On the Web3 front, FIFA have been busy.

They have partnered with blockchains Algorand and Polygon, and collaborated with Web3 business Modex who took over development of FIFA+ Collect, FIFA’s Web3 and collectibles platform.

They have also signed a deal with metaverse company Upland, beginning with the Qatar 2022 World Cup.

Lastly, FIFA, alongside FIFPro, signed a multi-year deal with Matchday, an NFT mobile trading card game, which recently appeared at the top of the Apple App Store charts in the UK.

FIFA Rivals marks the first licensed arcade game that is coming to market since the federation’s divorce from EA.

Mythical Games have found a way to satisfy the Apple App Store and Google Play Store rules when it comes to Web3, whilst creating a strong consumer experience loved by millions, utilising blockchain, and concurrently generating strong revenue because of the technologies’ unlock.

As per interviews since the announcement, Linden says that previous EA FIFA mobile games had up to 500m players, with 20m Daily Active Users (DAUs), and 50m+ DAUs during the World Cup.

A big part of why they have courted FIFA is due to the global audience football has, and he estimates that the sport itself has a market over 20 times that of the NFL. He references the mobile nativity and love for the sport in the global south — and feels the partnership with FIFA can be key to unlocking a more globalised trading environment.

A quote I love is that Linden wants Mythical Games to create a “Playable Game, but a Tradeable Economy”.

That idyllic scenario is one many have failed to create in consumer crypto;

(1) A great experience that regular consumers love
(2) That integrates blockchain to enhance the game
(3) Isn’t overly financialised
(4) Is mobile native/ready
(5) Uses big money IP to attract millions of users
(6) Is not pay-to-win

It’s a balancing act that Mythical Games have seemingly figured out. One thing we have written regularly about is the difficulty of involving utility tokens with consumers. Mythical Games have so far obfuscated that by tying purchases to a dollar amount, and not the Mythos token that is secured by the Mythos Chain, that NFL Rivals and other Mythical Games use.

They have also managed to solve a business problem; they’re monetising better than most games. Their multi-trade functionality on NFL Rivals allows users to generate a swap of 5 cards for 1, which in turn increases transaction volume for Mythical Games, whilst offering more liquidity and a better experience for their players. Win-win.

It becomes a win-win-win when Mythical can also pitch this increased monetisation to rights holders, who have struggled to do so with blockchain outside of sponsorship and have struggled massively to sustain fleeting, speculative projects.

Web3 businesses are often accused of using tech for tech’s sake, or even outright scams. But when they start solving real user and business issues, they accelerate ferociously in terms of adoption. (See Stablecoins in finance).

Mythical Games seems to be one of those businesses — agnostic of market conditions, they have not only survived but thrived.

And now with one of the biggest sports IPs signed up, and the current most popular NFT IP (Pudgy Penguins) joining their gaming ecosystem in 2025 — the next 12 months should prove exciting for them.

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