Sorare: An Ethereum-based NFT Fantasy & Soccer Game.

2022-05-28, 13:58

NFTs had come a long way since 2014 when Kevin McCoy minted the first known token, Quantum. The virtual artist minted his groundbreaking digital piece on the Namecoin blockchain, and Non-fungible tokens have not looked back since then.

Sorare, an Ethereum-based NFT fantasy game, is one of the paths these highly profitable innovations have taken to the future. Nicolas Julia and Adrien Montfort, former VPs at Stratum Blockchain Tech, founded the fantasy and soccer game in 2018. It is a crypto-based fantasy football game played using Scarce Players cards, which are NFTs based on real-life players.

NFTs owners on the game can play matches with other users, and also trade and exchange their NFT collectibles for Ether. The invention, based on the Ethereum blockchain, encourages lovers of football to own NFT cards of their favorite players. These cards have value based on the real-life performance and potential of the real-life players on them.

As expected, both crypto lovers and their football counterparts are loving the concept of Sorare. The game took off well and has been doing great ever since, growing from a $7 million trading volume to $325 million between 2021 and 2022. According to DappRadar, a crypto-analytics site, a Unique card of Mbappé, the highest-valued card in November 2020, sold for 116ETH. It has also attracted the big names in sports, including the just mentioned Kylian Mbappé and Bayern’s Lewandowski, among others.

As the crypto world is experiencing its meltdown, which is also affecting traditional sales of NFTs, you cannot afford to ignore this new approach to NFTs trading.

It is literally bringing investment and fun and profitable competition under one umbrella. Sorare is shifting the value of NFTs from just investment speculations to something that is a pleasure to own.

If you are interested in lucrative opportunities like this, then this article is a must-read for you. Let’s proceed.

What is Sorare?

Sorare is a blockchain-powered fantasy and Soccer game. It is an Ethereum-based crypto game that incentivizes the collecting of rare Football player Card NFTs. Users on the game compete in football matches to win rewards like Ether and special valuable collectible Digital Cards.

Players on Sorare can participate in football matches via NFT cards of real-life players. They can exchange and trade these NFTs across platforms as well. They can also act as football managers, putting together teams, creating lineups, and entering them in tournaments on the platform.

The Paris-based crypto fantasy game is combining several irresistible lures to attract its audience. These attractions include the fascination of collectors, the love of football, and the profitability of NFTs, a deadly combination. They aim to build a digital space for football lovers to make crypto money while interacting with their favorite sport.

Consequently, they have attracted both partners and investors among real-life players and organizations. Some of them include Starkware, Benchmark, Accel, and Antoine Griezmann, with GOATs like Gerard Piqué and Serena Williams serving as strategic advisers.

How It All Began.

Management giant Nicolas Julia and Developer Adrien Montfort founded the fantasy and soccer game in 2018. Both Frenchmen worked formerly as VPs at Stratum Blockchain Technology before breaking off to start their own company. Their invention has since grown to sign over 245 clubs officially, with more being added every week. Barcelona, FC Ajax, Liverpool, Bayern Munich, Juventus, Paris Saint Germain (PSG) FC Porto, and Real Madrid are some more popular ones. The French National Team and various leagues have also licensed them. Among these are the Bundesliga of Germany, MLS of North America, J league of Japan, and LaLiga of Spain.

Source: Sorare: The Next Generation of Fantasy Sports- IVP

Playing the Game.

The Sorare game is pretty straightforward, just like a normal football match. Users acting as managers put together a team of 5 collectibles to enter a match. Each team consists of Player Card NFTs that correspond with football players that exist in real life. Each team must have at least:

A goalkeeper,

One defender

One Midfielder and

One forward

They compete in one-off matches or weekly and monthly tournaments, depending on the “managers’” preferences. Moreover, the number of player card NFTs collected determines how many tournaments a participant can enter at a time. This is because an NFT player Card can only participate in one League or tournament at a time.

Rewards for Performance.

During the football matches, each player earns points based on their real-life performance. At the end of the game, the organizers compile the points and the team with the highest points wins. Winners receive collectibles, rare NFTs, or Ether, which they can trade at any time across other exchanges.

Collectible Digital Cards.

Source: Sorare Guide.

The value of Sorare collectibles is in the scarcity the developers have created. In their $4 million seed deck of 2020, they highlighted the importance of scarcity in making a commodity valuable. People always want to collect rare things. The blockchain technology supporting these NFTs has also given them trade-ability and portability.

Currently, on the Sorare platform, there are four levels of collectible digital cards, namely:

Limited: There are 1000 copies of these cards per league

Rare: they mint 100 of these per league.

Super Rare: there are 10 of these available in every league

Unique: There are only one of these cards per league.

Sorare’s digital collectibles are quite a lucrative commodity. According to DappRadar, the floor price of Rare collectibles as of March was $40. Super Rare cards had a minimal rate of $260, while Unique cards were selling at 4400 dollars at the floor price.

Since players’ real-life performance and prospects affect the value of their cards, most speculators are paying premium prices for younger players. They bank on their future potential. In contrast with their older counterparts, who are likely to continue deteriorating in value.

There is also a thriving market for player cards carrying Legends like Zinedine Zidane, Lionel Messi, David Beckham, etc.

Concerning Tournaments and Leagues.

There are four leagues and one weekly challenge on the Sorare platform.

Under 23 League: the player cards allowed in this league are those carrying players who are under 23 in real life.

Regional Leagues: as their name implies, these leagues are for playing cards with players from each specified region in real life. For example, a European league will only allow players from Europe to play in it.

All-Star League: this league contains several divisions.

The Training League: this consists of various divisions also.

All these leagues allow you to use players of varying scarcity levels to participate in them. In other words, you can play them with any combination of (Rare, Super Rare, and Unique.)

As for the weekly Tournaments, they are single matches also played with any combination of collectible cards. You can participate in them as long as you are eligible for entry.

Bear in mind that an important criterion for entry in all leagues is the "Player strength" of players in each team. The idea behind this is to even out the playing field in all leagues.

Furthermore, The organizers are offering the game indefinitely or until whenever the developers decide to shut it down. Of course, they would wait till all the ongoing tournaments at the time end.

How to start playing on Sorare

1. Sign in to the website

2. You can play the free game with common player cards which have no value or

3. Transfer Ether to your wallet.

4. Start collecting player cards.

5. Curate your dream team with five cards

6. Enter leagues and tournaments

7. Begin earning collectibles and crypto cash.

In Summary.

The Crypto-based fantasy and soccer game, Sorare has put a new face on NFTs trading and Football. Its combination of sports appreciation, investment speculation, and Collectors attraction has successfully created a new market for NFTs.

Both the world of football and the Crypto world have joined the train to enjoy football in a profitable framework. It is a play to earn with a difference, rewarding sports enthusiasts for their passion.

Author: Gate.io Observer: M. Olatunji
Disclaimer:
* This article represents only the views of the observers and does not constitute any investment suggestions.
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