Missed the GamesBeat Summit excitement? Don’t worry! Tune in now to catch all of the live and virtual sessions here.
Futureverse is launching its AI League “smart” soccer game on iOS today in partnership with the FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia & New Zealand 2023 tournament.
New Zealand-based Futureverse previously launched its “smart football” game in an open beta on Android, which resulted in over 50,000 downloads in the first three months. Futureverse previously announced in December 2022 that it had merged eight Web3 companies to create an open metaverse ecosystem with games and other entertainment.
AI League’s arrival on iOS coincides with a branding update themed for FIFA’s Women’s World Cup Australia & New Zealand 2023 tournament. AI League, which uses the metaverse AI protocol Altered State Machine, in cooperation with FIFA, aims to take a step forward with AI-driven games, with players acting as coaches and owners of their own AI teams.
AI League’s open beta went live in April on Android, following a user experience launched for the FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar last year. The AI-powered football strategy game has undergone extensive testing, and it got good feedback for its app quality, gameplay, and overall entertainment value.
The game’s iOS debut coincides with the upcoming FIFA Women’s World Cup — which takes place this year in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand, where Futureverse’s headquarters are based.
How to play
AI League is a four-versus-four casual football game, played between multiple AI-controlled characters, with player input at fun and tactical moments. Players act as the coach and owner of their AI teams, with each AI footballer given unique AI traits that define their strengths and weaknesses.
AI League’s FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 season runs alongside the main game, offering time-limited gameplay and a separate leaderboard. In addition to the game’s original playing fields set in stylized streetball locations around the world, from Paris to Rio, Yaoundé to Seoul — the new rebrand introduces arenas and outfit items unique to the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 to enhance the overall player experience.
“As a female founder, it’s incredibly exciting to have the opportunity to align our technology with the prolific growth of women’s football. We had an overwhelmingly positive response to the Open Beta launch of AI League, and we’re now thrilled to bring the game to iOS alongside the FIFA Women’s World Cup” said Shara Senderoff, cofounder of Futureverse, in a statement. “We see our cooperation with FIFA and the creation of AI League as a revolutionary moment for casual AI sports games.”
Asked what kind of game it is, the company said it’s better described as a fully AI game — almost like the game before the game — meaning you train your team of AIs to compete against someone else’s team of AIs.
The Web3 piece is of this is related to the AI. The characters in the game are collectibles, but a lot of the tech will be invisible to the players for the first phase so that the company can softly move them into “Web3.”
During later phases, the company will launch a marketplace where they can then buy and sell their collectibles (that will be worth more or less value depending on how much they’ve been trained by players).
Futureverse also has Muhammad Ali’s The Next Legend coming.
GamesBeat’s creed when covering the game industry is “where passion meets business.” What does this mean? We want to tell you how the news matters to you — not just as a decision-maker at a game studio, but also as a fan of games. Whether you read our articles, listen to our podcasts, or watch our videos, GamesBeat will help you learn about the industry and enjoy engaging with it. Discover our Briefings.
