It was presented in the summer during Gamescom with a big promise: take an important place in the world of football simulation games. And the virtual monopoly of FIFA, which dropped its competitor eFootball this year following the failure of the “new” license (rebranding of PES). UFL, a game from the Belarusian independent studio Strikerz, unveiled its first images as planned last night, enough to show what it was capable of and if it was indeed the announced FIFA-killer.
The next season should therefore have a new competitor (scheduled for release in 2022 on PC, Xbox and PS4/PS5), and it must be said that it already has great promise. In the video presentation, the studio director explains that the players “will not make the difference between a real football broadcast on TV and the cutscenes of the game”, thanks to motion capture and the Unreal Engine 5 used. Visually, we are very close to what is best in terms of football games, and the title can count on many licenses. Moreover, several names have been announced or confirmed: partnerships with West Ham, Monaco, Besiktas, Sporting Portugal, Borussia Mönchengladbach, Shaktar, Rangers and Celtic.
On the star side, after having been the mascot of FIFA 18 and PES 2021, Cristiano Ronaldo arrives in UFL and even delivered a short message during the presentation. He will be one of the 5 ambassadors of the game, with Alexander Zinchenko, Roberto Firmino, Romelu Lukaku and Kevin de Bruyne. UFL promises motion capture but also facial which will give a high level of realism associated with its partnership with FIFPro (which manages the rights of players around the world).
Finally in terms of gameplay, the game will be a free-to-play online, which will be played in 2v2 or 3v3 with the possibility of playing local games. Very similar to FIFA’s FUT mode, players will all be poured into an online global competition that will be reset each season to become the best player each year. He will then be able to display his trophy in a virtual showcase. The CEO recalled again that in the game, “only talent will count” for the progress of the team but also of his player.
