Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) and blockchain gaming studio Mythical Games have teamed up to launch FIFA Rivals — a free-to-play soccer game on Apple’s iOS and Android.

Scheduled to be released in the summer of 2025, FIFA Rivals will allow gamers to manage their own soccer clubs and compete against other players in real-time arcade gameplay.

“Build your squad, dominate the competition, and create your legacy in the newest title,” Mythical said in its pitch to sports-loving gamers.

New title in the 'Rivals' franchise!

Introducing @FIFARivals , an officially licensed mobile game from @playmythical and @FIFAcom ⚽

Powered by Mythos chain, build your dream team, own your players, and compete in real-time arcade action.

Available in 2025 on iOS & Android. pic.twitter.com/2S5EnhV3sB

— Enter the Mythos (@EnterTheMythos) November 22, 2024

The company’s CEO John Linden said FIFA Rivals could attract over 100 million gamers given that its NFL Rivals game has already seen over 6 million players sign up from a far narrower audience.

To put things into perspective, around 5 billion people tuned into the FIFA World Cup in 2022 while roughly 500 million people watched the NFL playoffs last year.

FIFA Rivals will be powered by the Mythical-supported Mythos blockchain and secured by the Polkadot network.

The partnership adds to a growing trend of sporting associations partnering with blockchain gaming studios aimed at delivering fun and interactive experiences for fans.

The intended appeal of blockchain games is that players can own in-game assets and monetize them in a play-to-earn economy.

One of Mythical’s early successes was Blankos Block Party, a social build and create nonfungible token game that has since transferred to Polkadot and is seeing around 3 million monthly transactions.

Related: Ubisoft set to launch its first Web3 game on Oasys blockchain

FIFA Rivals was made possible through the Mythos Foundation which Mythical launched in October 2022 to onboard and support new gamers and developers in its ecosystem. 

The Mythos Foundation is tasked with building cross-chain infrastructure, NFT in-game economies, providing support for gaming guilds, growing traditional esports participation in Web3 and collaborating with traditional gaming platforms to craft new policies for gamers.

Mythical secured $ 37 million in Series C1 funding in June 2023 which it used to build out its marketplace and pursue other revenue-generating initiatives.

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