Opening Night Live kicked off Gamescom with a ton of announcements and reveals, and whilst it didn't have the flashiest trailer or come out of the event as an industry-shaking headline, the arrival of UFL is a very intriguing development for sports fans. Despite quite little being known about the title, it already has sparked the imagination of soccer fans at a very critical time.
UFL is a free-to-play soccer simulation game that started development in 2016 by Strikerz Inc., with it being the studio's first project. It is definitely a bold move, as the genre has been dominated by FIFA and Pro Evolution Soccer for the past few decades, with their dominance only challenged by a select few that are mostly forgotten to history. Strikerz Inc. seems to be sure of themselves, however, with the details known about the game and information shared by the developers indicating that they are clearly not intimidated and are brimming with ambition.
So, what makes UFL different? To take on the challenge of unseating the EA Sports' FIFA series dynasty, they need to offer something to draw in a fanbase. Having been hard at work for around five years on UFL at this point, Strikerz Inc. is making a point about making their game as fair as possible. The sporting online multiplayer space was revolutionized in late 2009 with the arrival of FIFA Ultimate Team, a game mode that blended the world of trading card games into the soccer world. While it became a runaway success and enabled FIFA to finally put its rivalry with PES to bed, it isn't perfect. A major criticism of Ultimate Team is its cultivation of a pay-to-win atmosphere where micro-transactions act as a way to allow players to essentially buy the best players available, leaving those who don't want to spend any more than the price on the box at a severe disadvantage.
Since the reveal, Strikerz Inc. has been very vocal about its distaste for the environment created by Ulitmate Team and has built its game with that in mind. As well as being free-to-play, UFL is set to be fair-to-play as well. The developer has been keenly spreading this message, emphasizing that success in UFL will depend on the player's personal ability and tactics. As well as performance on the pitch, Strikerz Inc. has spoken on the importance of team preparation away from the field. While it is unlikely to possess the depth of something like Football Manager, it is an interesting wrinkle in an already intriguing pitch.
What makes the reveal of UFL even more exciting is when its presence is taken into consideration, along with the recently announced rebirth of the PES series into eFootball. Like UFL, Konami's eFootball will also be free-to-play, with regular updates without cost to keep content coming and keep players engaged from season to season. At present, more details are known about eFootball's take on the free-to-play design, having revealed a roadmap of the months following release and the confirmation of some form of battlepass to give players a rewards system to progress through. While titles like Fortnite, Apex Legends and Call of Duty: Warzone can coexist thanks to their noticeably different takes on the battle royale genre, can two free-to-play soccer simulation games find success without one cannibalizing the other?
Both eFootball and UFL seem to be prepared to take on FIFA in regards to authenticity. eFootball has the benefit of years of experience and partnerships already on its side, having a few existing connections with several high-level clubs. For the UFL, despite their unproven state, similar connections are already being formed, having already publicized a partnership with Premier League side West Ham United. Official statements from Strikerz Inc. confirm that UFL will feature over five thousand licensed players for gamers to build their teams through partnerships with football representative firm FIFPro, with statistics and player ratings generated through a link-up with leading analysis group InStat.
From what information is available so far, UFL sounds like a very promising addition to the sporting genre. It will be very interesting to see whether these new offerings from UFL and eFootball will affect FIFA at all, as well as the impact this pair of free-to-play sporting games might have on the wider genre as a whole.