NFL Rivals Launches In-Game Marketplace on iOS and Android

NFL Rivals has just launched its in-game marketplace for both the iOS and Android versions of the game, allowing gamers to buy their favorite NFL players, as NFTs, right there in the app.

NFL Rivals is a fascinating situation, and here’s why: There is a case that NFL Rivals is the most mainstream-successful web3 game to have been released so far, with over 1 million downloads (now double that number), and yet ironically, it isn’t that well known by web3 gamers. As many know, I don’t want there to be a distinction between games and web3 games — and one day there won’t be one — but in the formative years of blockchain in games, it’s an unusual scenario that’s playing out here.

The company behind NFL Rivals, Mythical Games, is an organization I have sung the praises of many times in the past few years. While they are competent and have the important knack of successful fundraising, it can be hard to separate the wood from the trees in web3; some studios are creating gorgeous games that will never see the light of day, while others are creating mystifying tripe that garners widespread attention. Blankos Block Party was a curious social game with a decent following, but NFL Rivals aimed squarely between the eyes of the mainstream.

Kickoff is finally here! Power playoffs, buying cards with in-game marketplace, fun Rivalry events, brand new packs, and much more fun to be had in this program.

You ready for this gridiron action, Rivals?https://t.co/1NcYGQq8bU pic.twitter.com/JdqfSYx9oA

— NFL Rivals 🏈 (@PlayNFLRivals) August 24, 2023

The recent update of NFL Rivals sees an upgrade in buying players. Previously, if you wanted to buy those players — that are all NFTs — you needed to navigate away from the game and use the Mythical web-based marketplace. Now, through a combination of Apple’s shift in approach toward in-app NFT purchases and Google’s announcement of Play Store policies, Mythical Games has been able to integrate a marketplace into the NFL Rivals app. However, the marketplace hasn’t had its full browsing experience enabled quite yet.

Players who reach level four or above can improve their roster and purchase NFT cards that are stored in the owner’s Mythical account. The NFTs in the app aren’t bought with crypto, instead they are bought with Credits, an in-game currency bought for fiat. However, if you sell your NFTs on the marketplace, you receive $MYTH, the Mythical Games token, which is a cryptocurrency.

One final detail caught my eye: the NFT pricing. Mythical has opted to keep the prices of NFTs the same across iOS and Android, despite the 30% Apple tax on in-app transactions.

To learn more about NFL Rivals, click here.