FIFA games are going full NFT after EA license split

FIFA — the international football organization, not the EA sports series — has a reputation for being a controversial company. Get ready to add another reason to that list, because four NFT games are on the way, and none of them sound like good ideas.

The FIFA website has descriptions of all four titles in the works. First is AI League: FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Edition from developer Altered State Machine. The four-on-four soccer game is mostly AI-controlled, as players serve as a coach who trains and trades players. Those players? NFTs. The second game is FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 in the Upland Metaverse by Uplandme, “the largest blockchain-based metaverse mapped to the real world.” This is more of a marketplace than a game: ‘players’ buy, sell, and trade NFTs like video highlights and digital decorations for their metaverse home. Are you seeing the trend here?

The third game, from Phygtl, is simply called FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 on Phygtl. We’re just going to give you FIFA’s wording verbatim on this one: “An immersive experience. Fans join forces on with the mission to co-create the global first fan generate[d] digital reward. Fans can augment a Golden Globe football from the palm of their hands into their real-life environment, own a limited fragment of it to attach, and eternalize their handpicked FIFA World Cup pictures and video moments.” We don’t know what any of that means either.

Finally, there’s Matchday Challenge: FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Edition, developed by Matchday. It’s part card game, part betting on soccer matches. Oh, and NFTs are the things you’re playing and wagering. Considering how popular Sorare has become in certain FIFA (the EA Sports game) circles, this is the one that has the best chance of catching on.

Let’s be clear: NFTs are waste of time, money, and global energy. Square Enix had already admitted that its own Final Fantasy VII NFT will likely be worthless one day. Valve boss Gabe Newell has been suspicious of the idea of NFTs all along. EA’s FIFA series is being renamed EA Sports FC with next year’s game now that its deal with the FIFA organization is over. It seems it got out at just the right time.