Sorare
| Sorare | |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | Nicolas Julia and Adrien Montfort |
| Publisher(s) | Sorare |
| Platform(s) | Android, iOS, web browsers |
| Release | 2019 |
| Genre(s) | Sports management game |
Sorare is a fantasy sport cryptocurrency-based video game. It was developed in 2018 by Nicolas Julia and Adrien Montfort. There are 3 sports in Sorare: football, basketball, and baseball. It is available for Android, iOS and web browsers.
Concept
Players compose and manage virtual teams of five players with digital player cards based on the cryptocurrency "Ethereum".
Some of the cards are digital collectibles (limited, rare, super-rare, and unique cards). These cards are Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) so they cannot be duplicated.
Teams are ranked based on the performance of their players in the real world, as it is common in traditional fantasy sports. These points are calculated utilizing a scoring matrix taking third-party data from Opta, where each player can score up to a maximum of 100 points depending on how they perform. This is also very similar to other fantasy football leagues where users keep the same players on their team every season, unless they choose to trade, drop, or sign new ones. [citation needed]
Development
Sorare operates on the Ethereum blockchain network, and each player card is represented as a non-fungible token (NFT).[citation needed] Sorare has signed licensing deals with leagues, such as the K League and clubs such as Real Madrid, to allow the cards to have official branding, and to use player photos and names.[1][non-primary source needed]
History
In May 2019, the company announced a pre-seed round of €550,000, including the technology entrepreneur Xavier Niel.[2]
In July 2020, the company raised $4 million with German football World Cup champion André Schürrle, among others.[3] In December 2020, the company raised another €3.5 million with World Cup champion Gerard Piqué, among others.[4]
In September 2021, the company raised $680 million Series B round, which valued the company at $4.3 billion.[5] Also in September, Sorare formalized an agreement with the Spanish football league for a multi-year partnership.[6] The agreement covers the edition of virtual cards for players playing in La Liga and Liga.[7]
On May 12, 2022, Sorare signed a partnership with Major League Baseball to continue to develop sports on its platform.[8] The launch of the game based on baseball and MLB was made on July 19, 2022.[9]
In September 2022, Sorare signed a multi-year deal with the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA).[citation needed]
In November 2022, Lionel Messi joined Sorare as an investor and brand ambassador.[10] Other investors include Kylian Mbappé and Serena Williams.[10][11][12]
On January 30, 2023, Sorare signed a partnership with the English Premier League for the purchase and use of official Premier League-licensed NFTs.[13] It laid off 13% of staff in May 2024.[14]
References
- ^ "Sorare". sorare.com.
- ^ "Xavier Niel investit dans l'une des pépites françaises de la blockchain". Les Echos (French daily newspaper) (in French). 2019-05-15. Retrieved 2020-08-07.
- ^ Coulter, Martin. "Fantasy soccer startup Sorare nets $4 million in a funding round backed by German striker Andre Schurrle". Business Insider. Retrieved 2020-08-07.
- ^ "Gerard Piqué entra en el negocio de 'futbol fantasy'". La Vanguardia. December 18, 2020.
- ^ Dillet, Romain (2021-09-21). "Sorare raises $680 million for its fantasy sports NFT game". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2022-11-07.
- ^ "NFT : Sorare signe un partenariat avec la Liga espagnole". www.lesnumeriques.com (in French). 10 September 2021. Retrieved 2022-08-09.
- ^ "Sorare s'associe à la Liga". Sport Strtatégies (in French). Retrieved 2022-08-09.
- ^ "La licorne française Sorare signe un partenariat avec la MLB - The Free Agent" (in French). 2022-05-12. Retrieved 2022-08-09.
- ^ "Sorare lance son jeu basé sur la MLB le 19 juillet - The Free Agent" (in French). 2022-07-13. Retrieved 2022-08-09.
- ^ a b Ryan Browne (November 9, 2022). "Lionel Messi takes stake in NFT fantasy soccer game Sorare". CNBC. Retrieved November 11, 2022.
- ^ Rory Jones (June 30, 2022). "'Kylian Mbappe invests in Sorare as part of ambassador deal". SportsPro Media. Retrieved November 11, 2022.
- ^ Marie Schulte-Bockum (January 20, 2022). "Serena Williams Joins Sorare To Help $4.3 Billion Blockchain Firm Conquer U.S. Sports, Women's Leagues". Forbes. Retrieved November 11, 2022.
- ^ Browne, Ryan (30 January 2023). "Premier League signs deal with NFT-based fantasy soccer game despite crypto downturn". CNBC. Retrieved 2023-02-01.
- ^ Szkutak, Rebecca (March 6, 2024). "NFT fantasy sports startup Sorare lays off 13% of staff as web3 gaming continues to sputter". TechCrunch. Retrieved November 10, 2024.