For years, #Maltese was a critical member of the FIFA community – and constantly at war with #EASPORTS. In the meantime, ‘Kurt’ wants to do it better himself and is working on the development of GOALS, a new soccer simulation. The latest design reveal explained numerous mechanics to be expected in the upcoming title

Since the corresponding blog entry on the GOALS homepage is quite extensive and technical, ‘Kurt’ as the face of the future offshoot was entrusted with a video classification. The former FIFA pro leads in about 22 minutes through the most important aspects of the Reveal – including the major differences to the traditional brands on the market

The concept of “True Digital Ownership

Fenech described the “True Digital Ownership” concept in GOALS as an “elephant in the room.” The players are earned exclusively through gameplay, they can not – as in FIFA Ultimate Team (FUT), for example – be bought directly by the creators through real money. But they can be bought by other followers.

The developers believe in the blockchain, Web3 and the secondary market where fans can trade among themselves. Unlike many other publishers, they do not want to prevent this procedure, because for many players the composition of a team through transfers is part of the realistic representation of soccer

Each player object should be unique

However, GOALS is to profit from the revenue only in the context of small transaction fees, which partially even flow into a community pool. This business model currently provides for the financing of the free-to-play title. The great attraction should also be that each player item is unique and actually belongs to the respective owner

“From my experience, I can say that I know how it feels to invest an extreme amount of time and effort into a game – and in the end you have nothing to show for it. I always found this practice ridiculous and outdated,” explains ‘Kurt’. The player objects in GOALS become the de facto digital property of the fans – and not of the studio.

Mbappé, Kane and Messi combined

In the course of this, ‘Kurt’ directly revealed the second major difference from well-known soccer simulations: No real players are represented. Lionel Messi, Robert Lewandowski or Cristiano Ronaldo will not be playable – but they can become set pieces of the fictional professionals in GOALS

“You can have a player inspired by Mbappé’s pace, Kane’s finishing, Messi’s dribbling and van Dijk’s defense,” says ‘Kurt’. The so-called performance genes define the respective strengths and weaknesses of the players via seven attributes, while the visual genes in turn define their appearance

‘Kurt’ wants to avoid typical cycles

The various components and detachment from reality allow GOALS to create absolutely unique players. Whoever owns an object in the game should be able to be sure that this item is not owned by any other follower. With this, the developers tackle another problem that the FIFA series, for example, has

“When we map real players, we need a cycle – a – Season , for example. And then you have to start all over again at the beginning of a new – Season ,” Fenech explains. It is a well-known criticism of FUT that the hard-earned or expensively acquired teams become virtually worthless with each new title.

Fairplay switch against pay-to-win

Players can be bought and sold without a huge profit on the part of the developer, which raises the pay-to-win issue. In order to directly take the wind out of the sails of possible accusations, GOALS introduces the fair play button, which is to be anchored in a corner of the user interface

Fans can thus decide for themselves whether matchmaking should also consider teams bought together as opponents for them – or exclusively teams from first-time owners. The pay-to-win factor can therefore be deactivated at any time. Whether this is also practicable for eSports, however, remains to be seen

GOALS wants “widest possible skill gap”.

Speaking of eSports: ‘Kurt’ talks about the “largest possible skill gap” in his video classification, the skill of the players should be decisive for success at all times. He also announced that GOALS will be “eSport ready” as soon as it is released. The gameplay will have to do its part to ensure a successful implementation

“We are creating a correct soccer game. However, wherever the need arises, the gameplay experience is prioritized over realism,” Fenech clarified. “Tempo boosts or flying players” are not to exist, but GOALS reserves the right to “bend the rules as far as necessary to create the best possible product.”

Lack of realism as a stumbling block?

The Reveal was rounded off by a few other features such as the possibilities to create your own “clans” directly in the title or to play your way into a GOALS national team. ‘Kurt’ and the rest of the team seem to have taken a close look at what FIFA & Co. have missed in recent years.

The absence of the familiar names and faces of the soccer cosmos could nevertheless become an obstacle for GOALS. The option of leading one’s idols and role models to great fame on the virtual pitch drives many fans. Whether they can also be inspired by a Messi-Kane-Mbappé hybrid remains to be seen.