NFL Rivals, a free-to-play game from Mythical Games, has managed to score over a million downloads despite debuting amidst a harsh crypto environment and in the off-season of the NFL itself, said John Linden, CEO of Mythical Games. The game, which debuted on April 26 in the Google Play and Apple Stores, was met with early enthusiasm, rising to the top spot in the App Store.
Linden shared that the game has been well-received, with a 4.8 out of five rating on the App Store and nearly 22,000 reviews. Additionally, players are spending an average of two hours per day playing the game. NFL Rivals has also seen nearly 15 million matches played and, on average, players have six gaming sessions per day.
The game features NFTs, or player cards, which are used to build out teams and compete in the game. Each card has different rarity levels from common to legendary and are assigned different strengths and weaknesses. Players can interact with the marketplace to buy, sell, or trade the cards, and roughly 10% of players have done so.
In May 2022, the NFL tapped Mythical Games to launch its first Web3 game. The league also has a ticketing collectible platform on Polygon and a Dapper Labs-built collectible marketplace, NFL All Day. Mythical Games’ other products include Blankos Block Party, an open-world multiplayer game, and Nitro Nation, an NFT-based racing game. The firm launched its Mythical Marketplace 2.0 in January 2023 and raised $150 million in funding in 2021 in a round led by a16z.