Telefonica Bets on Web3 Gaming by Investing in MetaSoccer

Wayra, Telefónica's open innovation initiative, invests in Champion Games. The video game studio in Barcelona has created Metasoccer, the first soccer metaverse in which you can manage your own club and generate income while playing. The game is aimed at both play-and-earn players and soccer fans interested in getting into the metaverse and web3 gaming.

It consists of a form of online games that allow players to earn rewards, with value in the real world, by playing against other players and progressing through the game. These rewards come as game assets, such as cryptocurrencies or NFTs, such as virtual stadiums and sports equipment, among others. All of these actions are recorded in the blockchain, a public database on the Internet.

“It is a privilege for us to have Wayra as an investor in our company. We hope that all the knowledge and experience in the field of telecommunications and innovation can help us consolidate our business,” said Marc Cercós, CEO and co-founder of Champion Games, creators of MetaSoccer.

In 2021, Champion Gamers raised a funding round of 2 million euros in which investors such as Play Ventures, ParaFi Capital, Defiance Capital and DAO Maker, among others, stood out. The objective of the round was to lay the foundations for creating the first sports metaverse with a new generation of digital native players and soccer clubs in MetaSoccer, which in the coming years will achieve ratings similar to those of professional soccer leagues.

To this end, it is investing in hiring profiles specialized in the development of Golang, React technologies and onchain programming in Solidity and, in addition, they are reinforcing marketing actions to provide more visibility to the project. So far they have won the support of great players such as Ronaldinho or Dani Carvajal and clubs like Vasco da Gama.

“Play-and-Earn is causing a new paradigm in the gaming industry. The use of decentralized technologies opens up a new world of opportunities that will revolutionize the industry. Champion Games is taking advantage of this wave and create a web3 game that can reach the mainstream audience. We are delighted to support this team of great professionals and we are sure that opportunities for collaboration with great potential can be opened up through Telefónica and Movistar,” says Marta Antunez, director of Wayra Barcelona.

A few months ago, Wayra launched the global Open2Metaverse call, to search for companies that are developing technology for the metaverse, which brought together 135 startups and analyzed 1625 startups from all over the world. Telefónica also organized Metaverse Day on September 29th, where Champion Games was presented as one of the Web3 startups that the company is promoting.