FIFA International Soccer 🎮 pic.twitter.com/WkuBIqA7tC
— 90s Football (@90sfootball) January 17, 2021
A quick guide to virtual sports
To place a bet on a virtual soccer match, you don’t really need to have any prior knowledge or expertise on the sport. The results of these matches are decided by a random number generator. This means the match result is impossible to predict. As technology has developed, the games have become more realistic.
If you want to read more information on this and to see some of the games on offer, you can find it here. Similar to real football betting, you can place bets on other outcomes in the match like the number of goals and the score at halftime. You can also place a virtual football accumulator bet and even simulate an entire season’s worth of results!
Companies such as SkyCity casino also offer virtual events set around the world of other sports. Virtual horse racing is extremely popular.
Soccer based video games
Football fans who want to temporarily remove themselves from the real world of football and see their local team triumph against all the odds will play one of two soccer-based games. Unlike the virtual soccer games mentioned above, the gamer plays a part in the outcome.
These two main video games are FIFA and Pro Evolution Soccer (PES). The FIFA games pride themselves on realism and official licenses. The series has sold over 325 million copies since the first game was released in 1993.
Despite never reaching the popularity of FIFA, PES has developed quite the cult following. Despite not having all the licenses, many prefer this representation of the beautiful game.
Both games might have taken some inspiration from the world of Fantasy Football. FIFA’s Ultimate Team mode and PES’s My Club mode allow the gamer to build their dream team using current players and some from the past. Both game modes give you the option of signing the legendary David Beckham.
The future of virtual soccer
In terms of virtual soccer games, there has been development in Random Number Generators (RNGs) which helps create the match outcome. Scientists have created a new form of RNG that reportedly creates sequences that are 100 times faster than traditional models. This article states they can be used to create more powerful computer simulations.
The next editions of FIFA and PES are being developed with the newest generation of consoles in mind, meaning a higher level of detail and immersion that we haven’t seen before. FIFA 21 was released for the PS5 and Xbox Series X and had mixed reviews. This next edition is expected to be a big improvement.
Could Virtual Reality (VR) play a part in soccer games going forward? There have been several attempts at creating a more physically interactive type of game. Some have been a part of minigame compilations and tend to be seen as party games rather than a serious football simulation. One YouTuber has created a FIFA VR prototype. Will this be the future of virtual soccer and soccer-based video games?
