Sports video game fans have been clamoring for companies to break the monopoly EA Sports has on several different fronts for quite some time. Madden continually hits new lows every year in the eyes of football video game purists, and the beloved FIFA franchise is not far behind.
This year, EA re-branded the FIFA franchise, with the first iteration of the new direction being called EA Sports FC 24. That game currently has a 2.4 out of 10 user rating on metacritic. Despite the poor job the company has done in making sports video games enjoyable over the past few years, fans have no choice but to buy them for one main reason: there’s no viable competition.
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UFL takes aim at EA Sports FC
When it comes to soccer video games, the only real competitor to EA has been Konami, whose Pro Evolution Soccer franchise has been successful in the past, particularly in Europe and other markets overseas. PES has also re-branded recently, becoming eFootball in 2021. To be frank, fans have hated the franchise since then.
Now, there appears to be a new competitor entering the market. Called “UFL” and developed by Strikers Inc., soccer fanatics have high hopes that the free-to-play game can challenge EA and Konami and provide a realistic and fun game. But in order for that to happen and the game to come to market, they need money and resources.
Cristiano Ronaldo invests in UFL video game
On Tuesday, the game got a big boost, as soccer legend Cristiano Ronaldo was announced as a $40 million investor.
It’s a huge chunk of change, as well as a massive boost in credibility for UFL.
Ronaldo and Lionel Messi have long been rivals on the field, and now they will be rivals in the video game industry. Messi has been an ambassador for Konami’s games for a while.
He appeared on the covers of PES 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2020. Just a month ago, Messi published a video on Instagram urging fans to play eFootball 2024.
With Ronaldo and Messi on opposite teams, EA now has two rivals to worry about. The key will be providing a video game worthy of dethroning the conglomerate’s offering.
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