It looks likeEA FC 24might actually have a true competitor on their hands, with STRIKERZ INC revealing that over one million players jumped onto the pitch forUFL‘s first open beta weekend.
According to STRIKERZ, 1,320,000 players downloaded the beta and created their club, with over 5.5 million minutes played and 9,986,206 goals scored—not bad forUFL‘s first public outing. It’s no surprise that the football-mad nations of the United Kingdom, Brazil, and Germany led the way in player numbers, with the United States and France filling out the top five.
It also should come as a shock that the most popular player in the beta wasUFL‘s frontman Cristiano Ronaldo. Truthfully, it was never going to be anyone else.
Just 1 week since UFL Open Beta ended but we already miss you!⠀Still can’t believe 1.3 million passionate players gathered over the weekend. Wow 🔥⠀What an amazing Community!Thanks for your participation & feedback ✊⠀Updates on our summer plans coming soon. Stay tuned!…pic.twitter.com/6hGhtxCEhD
As for thebetaitself, reviews have been pretty positive. The Ultimate Team-style game is definitely not as polished asEA FC 24, but it definitely feels nice to play, and is a solid foundation for STRIKERZ to build on. While the numbers are impressive for one weekend, it’s worth remembering that EA Sports’ soccer offeringreportedly logged 11.3 million usersin its first week, so there’s a long way to go to reign inEA FC.
Still, it’s nice to see some actual competition in the football market. Konami’s decision to kill thePro Evolution Soccerseries and replace it witheFootballessentially killed all of its momentum, leavingFIFAand thenEA FCto become the undisputed king of the genre.
WithUFLnow making waves, and arumoredFIFAgame developedby 2K, we might finally have a fight on our hands for the top spot, and the competition may push EA Sports to make major improvements to their franchise.
