FIFA debuts AI-powered soccer World Cup game, with plans for NFTs
FIFA today launched the open beta version of the World Cup AI League, a 4v4 football strategy game that utilizes artificial intelligence (AI) for its characters, cosmetics and gameplay elements.
Web3 AI company Altered State Machine developed the mobile game, which is currently available on Android with an iOS launch planned “soon,” according to a statement. The game’s open beta is an extended iteration of the game World Championship prediction game launched back in November.
The FIFA World Cup AI League does not have famous soccer stars like Cristiano Ronaldo or World Cup winner in 2022 Lionel Messiboth of which have entered into marketing and sponsorship deals with companies in the crypto industry.
Instead, AI League’s characters are cartoonish, colorful creatures that have the feel of a Pixar movie or the popular video game Fall Guys. In FIFA’s game, the characters’ movements are controlled by AI, which also determines their respective strengths and weaknesses. Similar to fantasy football or other sports management games, players act as team coaches and owners. The game currently offers maps inspired by the international locations of Paris, Rio de Janeiro, Yaoundé and Seoul.
“Our mission is to lead casual gamers into the world of AI gaming in the metaverse, and with FIFA’s AI League, we’re unlocking a unique new opportunity for soccer fans around the world to interact with their favorite sport,” said Altered State Machine co. – founder Aaron McDonald in a statement.
While AI League is a free-to-play game, an Altered State representative confirmed Decrypt that it plans to launch one NFT marketplace for the game in the near future. When it debuts, the game’s characters will be imprinted in NFTs and all characters will be represented via NFTs going forward.
AI League currently offers an in-game currency for users to purchase cosmetic enhancements for their players, but that currency is special not a cryptocurrency, partly due to Apple and Google’s restrictions on crypto trading.
The representative said that the NFT implementation will come later because the company wants the user experience to feel frictionless, and does not want players to be overly focused on or distracted by the NFT elements.
That is a strategy becoming more common in the Web3 room in the middle criticism from playersleading some developers to launch games in a traditional “Web2” form first without NFT or crypto elements – and then add them later.
And FIFA, the international governing body for soccer and the organization behind the World Cup, is no stranger to the crypto world: it enlisted a crypto sponsor for the 2022 World Cup and launched an NFT platformalong with collaborations with other Web3 game studios for World Cup themed integrations.
