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Jack Lee, wangjb77@gmail.com

After FIFA (Fédération internationale de football association) terminated its contract with EA, Roblox Corporation was chosen as its new strategic partner. FIFA and EA have maintained a partnership for nearly 30 years, but FIFA joined hands with Roblox Corporation last summer without extending a license contract with EA.

Roblox Corporation is a leading global metaverse technology company. It is serving the world's largest metaverse platform called 'Roblox'. Currently, more than 50 percent of teenagers under the age of 16 in the United States use "Roblox." Roblox is enjoying great popularity, with more than 50 million active users per day.

FIFA and Roblox Corporation plan to produce various soccer games and serve the world based on FIFA's exclusive soccer-related licenses and vast DB. Roblox Corporation's first work to be serviced based on the FIFA license is 'FIFA World', which will be officially serviced ahead of FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022.

The Qatar World Cup will open next month as the world's largest soccer event organized by FIFA. The FIFA World Cup is held every four years, and the World Cup is held in Qatar from November 20 to December 18, 2022.

'FIFA World', ambitiously prepared by the Roblox Corporation in partnership with FIFA to coincide with the opening of the World Cup Qatar 2022, incorporates soccer games into 'Roblox', a world of immersive metaverse.

In this regard, FIFA announced "now, soccer fans around the world will have an interesting and new type of experience that allows them to hang out together, receive rewards, and collect exclusive virtual items through various skill games and various collections and challenges."

Roblox Corporation is confident of the successful service of 'FIFA World'. An official from Roblox Corporation said, FIFA World will open the way for soccer fans around the world, including Korea, to celebrate, express their feelings, and to freely support their favorite teams.

According to FIFA's one-minute teaser trailer released in advance, 'FIFA World' seems to have a another virtual world like other games in 'Roblox'. In this space, users can enjoy the highlights of the World Cup provided by FIFA along with several mini-games. In the middle of the teaser trailer, Users can also see Pedri, a midfielder for Spain's national team. Users may also be able to purchase various decorative items in sticker shops.

FIFA and Roblox Corporation seem to be the primary marketing strategy for teenagers who are active in Roblox to attract potential customers. Through this strategy, it is interpreted that they will make 'Roblox' users fall into the world of soccer games with the opportunity of 'World Cup Qatar 2022'. 

▲ FIFA 23 game screenshotAs a result, fierce competition between Roblox Corporation and EA to dominate the Korean soccer game market is inevitable. Currently, the Korean soccer game market is dominated by EA. However, in the future, the market is expected to take a new turn with the emergence of strong challengers. Because Roblox Corporation, which obtained an official license from FIFA, is different from other soccer game developers.

Soccer games are currently very popular around the world, including Korea, ahead of the World Cup Qatar 2022. EA's latest game, 'FIFA23', is so popular that the number of simultaneous users per day exceeded 10 million in the first week of its release. This is EA's highest record in the history of the FIFA game franchise. It was the last game released by EA under the license of FIFA.

EA will not be able to service FIFA licensing games from 2023. For this reason, EA's FIFA game series, including 'FIFA23', will be renamed and partially serviced as 'EA Sports FC'. Therefore, Roblox Corporation's 'FIFA World' has become inevitable to compete in the market with EA's 'EA Sports FC'.

Korean sports game experts said, "’EA Sports FC’ has the advantage of being realistic as an authentic soccer game, while ‘FIFA World’ has the advantage of experiencing a completely different soccer game through the Metaverse Platform."

They also predict that the fierce competition between the two games will result in a synergy effect that will expand the user base of soccer games and increase the utilization rate of soccer games.

Currently, FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 is a big concern in Korea. This is because the Korean national team is very likely to advance to the round of 16. The Korean national team has many star players playing overseas, including Son Heung-min, who is active in Tottenham Hotspur in England.

Such public enthusiasm and expectations for soccer are very likely to eventually lead to the popularity of soccer games. In fact, in the past, various popular indicators such as time and frequency of use of major soccer games have been on the rise every time the FIFA World Cup is held.

With the opening day of FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 rising with football and soccer game fever, another interesting thing is to see the popularity competition between FIFA's old partner EA and new partner Roblox Corporation.