What do we know about UFL: can it challenge FIFA?

For more than a decade, the battle for soccer game supremacy has been fought by two sides: FIFA and Pro Evolution (now eFootball). That said, it hasn’t been much of a rivalry in recent years, with EA’s FIFA establishing itself as the undisputed king over Konami’s PES.

Numerous games have come and gone over the years as developers unsuccessfully attempted to establish titles for the world’s most popular sport, but there is finally a new kid on the block who might just disrupt the old order.

Ultimate Football League (UFL) announced itself onto the scene with plenty of loud and exciting marketing, big promises, and even bigger names attached to the project.

After the recent release of a new trailer for UFL, now is the ideal time to look at what is known about the game so far and if it can challenge FIFA as the world’s top soccer game.

What is Ultimate Football League?

UFL is a soon-to-be-released, free-to-play console soccer game that is being developed and published by Strikerz Inc. As a free-to-play game, players will be able to download and play UFL for free with their friends and online.

UFL will also be “fair to play”, which means players will only be drawn against players of a similar level and will therefore limit the number of one-sided games. UFL’s online divisions will be drawn and take place over a 12-month period, with a single champion crowned at the end of each season.

Another unique feature about UFL will not release new titles every year

When is the release date?

There is still no set release date for UFL, but the trailer announced that it will be this year. Considering that the current European club seasons are entering their final phases, it would make sense to time the release for the start of next season, but that is just logic speaking – the world awaits the definitive release date.

Which platforms will UFL be on?

For now, UFL will be released on PlayStation 4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, and Series S. Whether a PC release could happen after the launch remains to be seen.

What game modes will be available?

UFL will have standard online and offline friendly modes (1v1, 2v2, 3v3, etc), the previously mentioned online tournaments and divisions, and special missions and challenges.

But the game mode that UFL will hope to pin their ambitions to is the Flagship Mode. This will work like FIFA’s Ultimate Team, where players can build their clubs and teams, recruiting players and coaches and building up (or paying for) UFL’s equivalent of XP to improve the team. The big difference between UFL and FIFA’s Ultimate Team will be that players will be able to continue with their teams beyond one season.

Will UFL have access to license and rights?

Like FIFA, UFL has a deal with FIFPro – the worldwide organization that represents professional footballers and provides the licenses for games to use real names and player likeness. However, while FIFA has the rights to use around 17,000 players, UFL is thought to have the rights to around 5,000.

FIFA also has the exclusive rights to most major leagues, so UFL will likely resort to names such as Spanish First Division for La Liga, and English First Division for the Premier League.

That said, UFL has signed deals with several clubs, some of which you might know if you know how to bet on soccer online. Those include West Ham, Monaco, Sporting Club de Portugal, Besiktas, and Borussia Monchengladbach. How that translates into the game will be revealed in due course.

Which players are on board?

UFL made a big statement by announcing superstar Cristiano Ronaldo among their player ambassadors. Manchester City star Kevin De Bruyne and his teammate Oleksandr Zinchenko are also on board, as are Liverpool forward Roberto Firmino and Chelsea striker Romelu Lukaku.

So, can it challenge FIFA? 

Considering it is yet to be released, it’s still far too early to tell if UFL can ruffle FIFA’s feathers and become a viable rival to EA’s market-leading game.

UFL is making all the right noises and with some heavyweight player ambassadors, intrigue is no doubt building ahead of its eventual release. Should UFL prove popular, it’s free-to-play format could influence FIFA to follow suit.