Could GOALS rival FIFA and eFootball in football esports?

Gaming entrepreneur, Andreas Thorstenseen has announced he is creating a Triple-A football game called GOALS. GOALS will be a next-generation football game with a high development and marketing budget according to Thorstenseen. Popular football Twitch Streamers, Kurt “Kurt0411” Fenech and Nick Bartel will also be part of the GOAL’s team.

1/ I am building my dream company – GOALS! A next gen football (soccer) game backed by amazing VCs and angel investors. @goalsgame combines my deep interest in sports, gaming, esports and new technology. pic.twitter.com/ikGrlaeRZb

— Andreas Thorstensson (bds.eth) (@andreas) August 18, 2021

According to Thorstenseen, the game will be “free to play, cross-play, multiplayer first and esports ready.” GOALS will use a play-to-earn mode, rewarding players through non fungible tokens for time spent and skill in the game. This method will allow more players to earn money while playing. Also, the cross-play feature will allow players on different platforms to compete with each other.

Could GOALS rival FIFA and eFootball in esports?

Thorstenseen’s decision to build a new football game came after playing more than 5,000 FUT matches and observing the lack of progress in the esports scene he said. EA Sports and KONAMI are the leading companies when it comes to football games. Both FIFA and PES (now eFootball) are played by millions of fans across the globe.  However, when it comes to esports, FIFA has continued to lead the pack with eFootball still behind even with its rebrand.

Over the years, there have been complaints about EA’s approach to FIFA esports. This includes low prize pools in certain tournaments, lack of cross-play and little focus on the esports community. The creation of GOALS could be a positive addition to the football esports community. Looking at what this new game plans to achieve, it is clear they’re building towards an ‘esports ready’ game.

The GOALS team will focus on building a proper matchmaking rank system with tournaments and ladders according to Thorstenseen. They also plan to structure the game in a way that allows players to win due to their skills, making the game more competitive. For the multiplayer player first features, GOALS will follow the VALORANT model and commit much of its resources toward creating a fluid experience online. This approach will attempt to eliminate lag, latency and button delay in online competitions.

Additionally, Thorstenseen is the founder of SK Gaming and a former Counter-Strike world champion and plans to use his experience to create a bigger esports ecosystem for the game. With all these initiatives, GOALS seems to be a game that could potentially rival FIFA esports. However, the game would have to overcome licensing and player base issues to truly challenge FIFA in years to come.