FIFA Reveals Four Metaverse Games Ahead of Qatar World Cup 2022

Last May, FIFA announced it would be working with several studios to create games and experiences under the FIFA brand.

The first initiative came this past October, in a collaboration between FIFA and Roblox, and now FIFA has revealed four new games ahead of Qatar World Cup 2022, all falling under the web 3.0 umbrella.

AI League: FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Edition is being developed by Altered State Machine for mobile devices and will allow players to act as the coaches and owners of teams via artificial intelligence. Games will be played on a 4 vs 4 format with player input “at fun and tactical moments” and teams will be composed of “AI All Stars”, who will also act as NFTs stored on blockchains.

FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 in the Upland Metaverse will be based on Uplandme, a massive blockchain-based metaverse mapped according to the real world, where players can buy and sell virtual properties. This new game will allow players to collect FIFA World Cup digital assets, including video highlights of the tournament itself.

Matchday Challenge: FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Edition from Matchday will work as a “highly engaging casual social prediction game based on football cards”. The press release claims “the essence of the fun is derived not just from ‘getting it right’ but by being the best among your friends.”

Lastly, FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 will also be coming to Phygtl, a mobile app based on fan engagement.

Users will “join forces with the mission to co-create the global first fan-generated digital reward.”

In more practical terms, players will augment a golden-globe-football by “owning a limited fragment of it to attach and eternalize their handpicked FIFA World pictures and video moments.”

“This is a hugely exciting group of partnerships that we’ve entered into as we embrace a new, digitally-native football fan and engage with them in the spaces that we know they are already active within,” said Romy Gai, FIFA Chief Business Officer.

It's worth remembering that EA Sports and FIFA ended an almost 30-year-long exclusive partnership in 2021 after both companies reportedly could not agree on how to proceed with the highly popular FIFA video games.

This means that FIFA 23, launched this past September on PC and consoles, was the last FIFA game developed by EA Sports. 

As for EA Sports, the studio announced they will continue to release a yearly soccer game on PC and consoles, as the ‘true’ successor to the classic FIFA series.

The game will be titled EA Sports FC and more information is expected to be shared in July 2023.