Ever since the first video games were developed, they have found themselves inextricably linked to the realm of sports. From early rudimentary tennis games to the current range FIFA titles, the avid sports fan is well catered for in the industry. None however, have captivated its audience quite as much as the fantasy management genre of games, where budding tacticians can take the helm of their favorite team, and lead them to eternal glory. Now, with the advent of blockchain technology, these games have experienced a much-needed upgrade, with the biggest of them all combining the collectible management game with NFTs and the blockchain. So, come with us as we dive into everything you need to know about the Sorare gaming platform.
What is Sorare?
In traditional fantasy sports experiences, users draft their favorite professional players, set their weekly lineups, and reap points for all of their players’ on-the-pitch actions in the hope of beating their buddies.
Sorare does things differently. It’s still a fantasy game at heart, but instead of just picking player names from a list during a draft, participants purchase digital trading cards that are tokenized on the Ethereum blockchain.
Gamers benefit from true digital ownership of these non-fungible token (NFT) cards and can freely resell them as crypto collectibles, however, they also play an integral part of Sorare’s fantasy experience. Through the platform, virtual team managers can compete using their NFT cards to win a variety of prizes, both in the form of cryptocurrency and rare, valuable digital collectibles.
About Sorare’s Founders and Partners
Sorare is a Paris-based French startup co-founded by Nicolas Julia and Adrien Montfort in 2018. Its flagship sports video game was released in 2019 and is available on web browsers, Android, and iOS devices. Sorare is funded by top Venture Capitali firms like Softbank, Benchmark, Accel, and Headline. According to Reuters, the company is currently valued at $4.3 billion. Sorare partners with sports icons like Zinedine Zidane, Lionel Messi, and Serena Williams as brand ambassadors to promote its sport gaming concepts. Furthermore, the company also partners with Alexis Ohanian and Xavier Niel (tech investors) and footballers like Gerard Piqué, André Schürrle, Rio Ferdinand, Kylian Mbappe, and Antoine Griezmann.
About the Fantasy Game
Sorare’s fantasy game is a flagship collection of free-to-play sports games developed on the Ethereum blockchain to facilitate its NFT incorporation. The gaming empire began with fantasy football, where managers (players) can manage their preferred team of five virtual players to earn rewards (incentives).
How?
The sport game allows managers to buy, sell, and collect players for their virtual teams through trading card NFTs. These fantasy teams compete with one another to earn rewards after winning. The trading cards are ERC-721 collectible NFTs that can be traded, bought, sold, or used to play games to managers’ preferences. The rewards earned after the game can be exchanged for cryptocurrencies on the Sorare marketplace.
Sorare extended its fantasy concept to Major League Baseball (MLB), the world’s oldest major professional sports league, on May 12, 2022, and launched its baseball game on July 19, 2022. Furthermore, Sorare also added the NBA (National Basketball Association) to its flagship in September 2022 after partnering with the NBA and the NBPA (National Basketball Players Association).
Steps to Play Sorare Fantasy Games
- The first step is to go to the Sorare homepage and click the “SIGN UP” tab by the top right corner of the page to create an account. Players will need an email address, username, and password to get going.
The next step is to choose a preferred fantasy game; the football fantasy game feature 300+ officially licensed football clubs, while the NBA and MLB have 30 approved teams and clubs, respectively.
- Next is to collect, play, and start winning competitions.
Understanding the Collect, Play, and Win Slogan
The Collect aspect of the game involves collecting, buying, or selling officially licensed digital player cards on its native marketplace to build a team of virtual players. The football and NBA games have a lineup of five players each, while the MBL has seven players.
The Play aspect of the game involves submitting a player lineup to compete in a variety of free biweekly competitions against other fans across the globe. Gamers can also play against friends or associates in private leagues.
The Win aspect of the game involves:
- Defeating other global managers.
- Climbing leaderboards.
- Winning rewards based on the real-life performance of a squad.
Managers earn rewards like digital player cards, match tickets, merchandise, ETH, and once-in-a-lifetime experiences like meeting renowned athletes.
The fantasy football game covers top leagues, including the English Premier League, American Major League Soccer, Spanish LaLiga, German Bundesliga, Italian Serie A, and French League 1. Before starting the game, users must draft 8 players (2 forwards, midfielders, defenders, and goalkeepers) for a squad, of which 5 will compete in the preferred league.
Cards Rarity
Since Sorare’s cards are NFTs, they also have traits that define their respective rarities and the kind of special competitions their holders (managers) can participate in with them. There are five kinds of cards with disparate rarities: Common, Limited, Rare, Super Rare, and Unique.
1. Common Cards
The Common cards have a gray background with an unlimited supply. They are issued to managers after joining Sorare to explore how to play the game. However, there are unlimited common cards for each player card, and they can be used to participate in some competitions. All common cards belong to the managers they are issued to; they can’t be traded or sold.
2. Limited Cards
Limited cards come in editions of 1,000 (for football) yellow background cards, which were initially launched in 2021, before the 2021/2022 season. Every season, each featured football player has 1,000 limited cards, while the NBA and MLB have 5,000 each for their respective players.
3. Rare Cards
Rare cards come in editions of 100 (for football) red background cards. Every season, each football player features on 100 editions of the Rare cards, while the NBA and MLB players have 1,000 editions each.
4. Super Rare Cards
The Super Rare card is a collection of 10 (for football) blue background cards. Each football player has 10 editions of the Super rare cards every season, while the NBA and MLB players have 100 editions each every season.
5. Unique Cards
The Unique card is currently the rarest of all cards; it is a 1/1 NFT card with no replica in the ecosystem. Each player in the football, NBA, and MLB only has one unique card with a purple background each season.
Generally, the rarity of these player cards determines their performance in the squad, the level of competitions they can play in, and the rewards managers can earn. Like other NFTs, the rarer a player card, the higher its market value or price.
Conclusion
Four years down the line, Sorare has proven to be a reputable brand in the decentralized space. Their historical milestones can establish their uniqueness. From their fundraising partnership with André Schürrle in July 2020 to another fundraising partnership with Gerard Piqué in December 2020 to reflect their integrity in sticking to their roadmap.
Furthermore, the company partnered with the Spanish football league in September 2021, released the iOS edition of its game in March 2022, partnered with MLB in May 2022, and released the android version of its fantasy game in October 2022. In November 2022, Sorare partnered with the NBA and the trio of Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe, and Serena Williams as investors, with Messi doubling as brand ambassador. Sorare later partnered with the English Premier League on January 30, 2023, to onboard the EPL fantasy game. Follow Sorare on Twitter
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*All investment/financial opinions expressed by NFT Plazas are from the personal research and experience of our site moderators and are intended as educational material only. Individuals are required to fully research any product prior to making any kind of investment.
Technical writer, an enthusiast for everything blockchain and decentralized world.
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