The National Football League has partnered with sports technology firm StatusPRO to develop a new annual virtual reality game for Sony’s PlayStation VR headset and Meta’s Oculus Quest 2 headset, according to the NFL on Wednesday. The new game will be a first-person game that allows players to play the game through the eyes of characters on the virtual field.
The game’s title, release date, and price have not yet been announced by the two firms, but they have stated that they plan to build an “authentic long reality experience.” StatusPRO’s current efforts include a Microsoft Hololens augmented reality software that superimposes computer data on the real world. Players using the application see digital football players overlaid in front of them while practicing various skills.
The organizations anticipate that their future VR game will be far more immersive as a result of this “athlete-led technology.” “Virtual reality gaming is rapidly expanding, and our collaboration with StatusPRO allows us to investigate a new immersive form of NFL gaming with help from the two most prominent VR platforms in this hot industry,” Joe Ruggiero, SVP of Consumer Products at the NFL, added.
EA Games excitement
The announcement of the partnership with EA Sports, which is expected to be announced today during a press conference in New York City, signals one of the most significant expansions into gaming for the NFL beyond its existing deal with game maker Electronic Arts, whose yearly Madden NFL Football title is frequently one of the most purchased.
The game, which is largely aimed at personal computers and video game consoles, offers gamers a bird’s eye view from above the field so that they may keep an eye on almost all of the players on the field throughout the action.
A new gaming experience
The NFL and StatusPRO anticipate that this virtual reality game will complement already-existing football games. It also gives the opportunity for the NFL to get involved with popular new gaming technologies, such as the metaverse, a term for shared digital worlds where people can congregate and play video games together. The topic is one of the most discussed topics in the tech world, including at this week’s Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, which is being held during SXSW.
Madden NFL fans may welcome these new efforts, which some have accused of being stagnant in the past. StatusPRO’s VR game, in comparison, may offer a new version though neither company released any video or images of what their upcoming game may look like. The companies notified the public of their intentions to provide more information, including a precise release schedule, “at a later date.”
