Matchday

Matchday is a gaming startup developing a suite of casual mobile games for the global football (soccer) market, which it estimates to be around five billion fans. The company was founded in 2021 by Derrick Ko, Razmig Hovaghimian, and Sebastien de Halleux. Its headquarters are located in San Francisco, with an additional office in Barcelona, Spain. In February 2023, Matchday announced a seed funding round of $21 million, with notable investors including Courtside Ventures, Greylock, Horizons Ventures, and Play Time, a venture capital firm established by football star Lionel Messi.

The founding team possesses extensive experience in the technology and gaming sectors. CEO Derrick Ko previously founded the e-scooter company Spin, which was acquired by Ford, and his interest in football was sparked by video games during his youth in Singapore. Chief Gaming Officer Sebastien de Halleux co-founded the social gaming company Playfish, later acquired by Electronic Arts, and was also part of the early team at Glu Mobile. Executive Chairman Razmig Hovaghimian has founded multiple companies, including the international streaming site Viki and the local news platform Pixel Labs (Hoodline).

Matchday's business model centers on a free-to-play ecosystem that integrates blockchain technology to offer players true ownership of digital assets, such as player cards. The company has established partnerships with FIFA and FIFPRO, the global professional footballers' union, allowing it to use officially licensed likenesses of tens of thousands of players and major tournaments like the FIFA World Cup. Its core product is a portfolio of mobile games designed to be accessible to casual fans who may find traditional soccer simulation games too complex. The initial game, "Matchday Champions," is a digital card game where users collect player cards to build squads and compete against others. Revenue is generated when players purchase these digital items either directly from Matchday or through a player-to-player marketplace.

The company's strategy focuses on lowering the barrier to entry for football fans into gaming. While it uses Web3 technology to ensure digital ownership, the company's motto is to "make complexity disappear," aiming to attract millions of users who may be unfamiliar with blockchain concepts. Player cards are intended to be interoperable across a future ecosystem of different games developed by Matchday and its partners. The first major product launch was a prediction game for the FIFA World Cup in Qatar, which attracted nearly 600,000 sign-ups and distributed two million player cards, validating the market interest before the release of its main titles.

Keywords: football gaming, soccer games, mobile gaming, digital collectibles, NFT player cards, blockchain gaming, Web3 gaming, free-to-play, FIFA licensed games, FIFPRO partner, sports technology, casual games, Derrick Ko, Sebastien de Halleux, Razmig Hovaghimian, Lionel Messi, Play Time, fantasy sports, digital asset ownership, virtual goods, game economy