FIFA, the soccer world’s governing body, has officially entered with metaverse through a partnership with gaming giant Roblox. The FIFA virtual world includes skill games, challenges for collectors, video content from the FIFA+ archives, and in-game events. The move comes ahead of the World Cup in Qatar this year.
Romy Gai, FIFA’s Chief Business Officer, said that the virtual world will engage a broad audience, including new and established soccer fans. It will give fans a new way to interact with friends, celebrate the rich heritage of soccer, and demonstrate “creativity” and national pride through various in-game features.
FIFA has established two ambassadors for the virtual world: FC Barcelona and Spain star Pedri and Wolfsburg and Germany midfielder Lena Oberdorf. Oberdorf added to Gai’s comments, stating that “fans are the lifeblood” of soccer and it’s exciting to see FIFA use Roblox to give a platform to the women’s game.
One of the cited reasons for the partnership will be to give fans across the world a place to communicate. Roblox currently reaches millions of gamers globally per month, with new partnerships sprouting up every month. FIFA may try to leverage that reach to form a global soccer community, especially among the younger age brackets.
A representative of Roblox added to FIFA’s statements, saying it is often difficult to celebrate events IRL, especially when people live a great deal of distance from one another. This new partnership will enable soccer fans to celebrate their fandom with each other year-round, a plus that metaverse technology provides.
Soccer Bets Big on Web3
Few industries have bet as big on Web3 as sports, and soccer is no exception. At Rarity Sniper, we’ve covered countless stories involving the beautiful game and the next iteration of the internet. Here are three, including two from FIFA itself.
One month ago, FIFA announced that it was launching an NFT platform. The platform, called FIFA+ Collect, will be like an NFT marketplace and allow fans to collect video clips from the game’s greatest moments.
Two months ago, Major League Soccer “signed” a Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT to a pro contract. The Ape, called “Striker,” stands at six feet five inches and weighs 250 pounds. His birthplace is the blockchain.
And finally, five months ago, FIFA revealed that it had made Algorand its official blockchain partner. Algorand, known for its environmental friendliness, is now a regional sponsor for the Qatar World Cup and the official sponsor of the Women’s World Cup in 2023.
FIFA’s partnership with Roblox shows the governing body is still expanding into Web3, the metaverse, and related technology. Given its bullishness, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see more moves out of it soon.