beincrypto.com
Mythical Games and FIFA have revealed plans for FIFA Rivals, an officially licensed mobile football game. The free-to-play title will launch on iOS and Android in the summer of 2025, though an exact release date remains undisclosed.
The game will let players build and manage their own football clubs and compete in real-time online matches.
FIFA Rivals Will Integrate NFTs
Mythical Games, known for its NFL Rivals mobile game, will also incorporate NFTs into FIFA Rivals. As the studio told BeInCrypto, the game will have its exclusive NFT marketplace. Players will be able to trade their favorite football stars as NFTs.
The studio’s previous title, NFL Rivals, launched in April 2023. It also features collectible and tradeable NFT player cards minted on the Mythos blockchain, built with Polkadot. Since its release, the game has surpassed 6 million downloads across platforms.
Following a similar model, FIFA Rivals will use the Mythos blockchain, allowing players to collect and trade iconic football stars from both past and present eras.
“FIFA Rivals is designed to be highly accessible, featuring a shallow learning curve coupled with advanced features for hardcore players to explore,” Nate Nesbitt, spokesperson for Mythical Games told BeInCrypto.
This isn’t FIFA’s first foray into NFT and Web3. During the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, FIFA collaborated with multiple blockchain startups to release games and collectible apps.
“The partnerships we have with both the NFL and with FIFA should open the door for other collaborations between web3 games studios and major sports titles,” Nate Nesbitt told BeInCrypto.
Increasing Optimism for an NFT Comeback
The announcement coincides with renewed optimism in the NFT space.
Most recently, ‘Vitalik.eth’, and wallet allegedly linked to the Ethereum co-founder, moved 32 ETH to Base and minted 400 Patron NFTs. These were part of Truemarkets’ fair launch, which allocates a significant portion of its TRUE token supply to Patron holders.
Despite these developments, the NFT market continues to face headwinds. Data from 2024 shows that 98% of NFT collections saw little trading activity, with only 0.2% of projects turning a profit.
Notably, many NFTs lost over half their value shortly after launch, underscoring challenges for both creators and investors.
Meanwhile, Base, Coinbase’s Ethereum layer-2 network, recently created a commemorative NFT to celebrate its 1 billion transaction milestone. However, the platform faced significant allegations of copying artist Chris Biron’s work.
Base responded by pledging the NFT proceeds to Biron and promising stricter oversight for future projects.