Football superheroes: Colombian flair powers new FIFA video game

Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar, and Kylian Mbappe as superheroes dodging tackles with gravity-defying acrobatics: three years after its name was removed from the world's best-selling football video game, FIFA is back with FIFA Rivals.

Gone is the realism of the best-selling FIFA game of yesteryear.

The new cartoon-style mobile game features players with preternaturally wide torsos and silhouettes of fire fielding balls that emit streaks of light, a YouTube preview revealed. 

Developed by US gaming technology studio Mythical Games in conjunction with Colombian studio Bacon Games, it is part of football's world governing body FIFA's bid to regain a foothold in the multi-billion-dollar gaming industry.

For nearly three decades, FIFA dominated the market for PlayStation and Xbox games.

But in 2022, world football's governing body ended its partnership with EA Sports, the game's US creator, in a dispute over licensing fees.

Three years later, FIFA aims to win back gaming fans with a surefire formula: a free game for mobile users.

Mythical Games on its website promises "the thrill of fast-paced, mobile arcade-style football with authentic FIFA action."

Jairo Nieto, executive director of Bogota-based Bacon Games said FIFA Rivals was in search of "its own identity."

"We don't want to be a simulation game, (...) but we also don't want to be on the other end of the spectrum of more fantasy games," he said.

Inspired by NFL Rivals, an American football game for smartphones also developed by Mythical Games, it is slated for release in the summer.

Nieto said it could be available to download before the FIFA Club World Cup, which starts on June 14 in the United States. 

- Dream-like footwork -

EA Sports and FIFA were the kings of video football between 1993 and 2022, selling at least 235 million copies of their franchise.

By the time their partnership ended, The New York Times reported that they had raked in more than $20 billion (17.7 billion euros) in sales.

After their partnership ended, EA renamed its product EA Sports FC and continued offering realistic games with players uncannily similar to their real-life counterparts.

Juan Duque, in charge of creating the movements of the players in the FIFA Rivals game, says the game "combines two very cool things: real-life players, real-life championships, but the moves are dream-like."

The game marks a milestone for Colombia, home to several leading Latin American gaming studios but a minnow compared to the United States, Japan, China or South Korea.

Coincidentally, another football game, developed by French studio Sloclap, is also slated for release in June.

"Rematch" is for PCs, Xbox Series and Playstation 5. 

Unlike FIFA Rivals, however, players control just one player in fast-paced five-a-side matches.

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