The Neo Soccer game is now in open beta, with limited availability for new players to join a league. In Neo Soccer, players use bNEO to purchase or loan squad members, managers, and stadiums in order to compete against teams established by other users. While different game modes are available, the second 38-day season of Neo Soccer begins at 10:00 a.m. (UTC) on Wednesday, Nov. 9.

Neo Soccer was built by the former MyMingo development team that has since assumed responsibility for Flamingo Finance, also responsible for the NEO-BITS NFT series. The new web-based application was inspired by Football Manager, a popular game dating back to its 1992 inception. To date, the franchise has sold more than a million copies of its most recent release, Football Manager 2022.

In Neo Soccer, the user must maintain a proper balance of team finances with revenue derived from hosting home games and prize pools from seasons and cup matches. To play, the user must populate an entire squad comprising one goalkeeper, four midfielders, three defenders, and three attackers. A stadium and a manager are also necessary.

There are two ways to acquire these characters and stadiums: purchase or loan.

Source: Neo Soccer

Players, Managers, and Stadiums

Players, managers, and stadiums can “recruited” by minting at random or by acquiring from other users. Each purchase includes a “contract” with the in game character or stadium, which can be terminated at any point. To continue holding an item, contracts must be extended to the desired number of years before it expires and a new season begins.

bNEO spent on players, managers, or stadiums through minting is re-distributed into a platform fee, termination pool, season prizes, and round prizes. If a user terminates a contract, they can receive a portion of the bNEO used for the initial purchase. If a character or stadium is purchased directly from another user, the bNEO will go to the seller.

Players, managers, and stadiums can also be loaned out by their owners. However, the loanee will have to pay the player’s salary and a loan fee to the user they’re borrowing from. Users who wish to build their teams at lower costs may prefer to loan players at a fraction of the cost of purchasing players. 4% of all sales and loans go into the reward pools.

Players

The in-game players (i.e., attackers, defenders, midfielders) are eligible to play until their retirement age of 35. When a new player is minted, they’ll have different levels of seven random traits: rank, age, luck, skill, multiplier, aggression, and salary. Each player also has a different mint percentage: goalkeeper (12%), defender (38%), midfielder (25%), and attacker (25%). Players cost a fixed rate of US $15 to purchase, paid in equivalent bNEO.

Managers

Managers are eligible for a team up until age 65, at which point they’ll automatically retire. Like players, the manager’s performance is randomly determined by base luck, skill, multiplier, and aggression factors. However, the manager’s multiplier also affects that of the entire team. Each manager cost a fixed rate of $30 paid in equivalent bNEO.

Stadiums

Lastly, Stadiums have a shelf life of 100 years and five other traits that will impact the amount of bNEO the owner earns each match. For example, bad weather can reduce attendance, but a high luck factor can increase the home-field advantage. Further, the larger the stadium’s capacity, the more potential revenue. However, the maintenance costs will also be higher. Each stadium costs a fixed rate of $45 equivalent in bNEO.

How to Play

Once a team has been assembled, users can participate in seasons, practice matches, and cup rounds. Outcomes of games are determined according to algorithms that incorporate characteristics (i.e., skills, aggression) and randomization (i.e., luck factors, weather). Each game takes place over 90 minutes in real-time.

In competitive matches, the user will receive a portion of the game’s prize pot based on the result:

  • Win: 80% of the pot
  • Lose: 20% of the pot
  • Draw: 30% of the pot

In a draw, the remaining 40% will go to the next round’s pot.

After each match, the attributes of players and managers can improve or regress according to the character’s match rating. For example, the player/manager may lose attribute points if the rating is less than 2, but will gain attribute points if the rating is 6.4 or higher.

Seasons

Seasons run for 38 days, with matches played daily at 10:00 a.m. (UTC). To join a season, the user pays a flat fee upfront (currently 5 bNEO), which is then distributed into the prize pool shared between placement prizes, ticket prices, and match day income. Users will also earn bNEO via match day ticket sales, cup winnings, and prize packages split among the league participants after each season.

After a season ends, there is a seven-day window where loaned players, managers, and stadiums are returned to their original owners and for users to extend contracts and strengthen their teams for the next season.

Cups

Cup matches are knockout-style tournaments comprising 8 or 16 teams. The amount of registered teams also impacts the total prize pool; the more teams in the cup, the higher the prize pool. Cups typically take place over one day, with winners moving on until the champion is determined.

Practice

Alternative to seasons and cups, practice matches cost 0.2 bNEO for a user to play a friendly game against another account. Each friendly can help players and managers gain experience points and improve or worsen their traits. The user who started the match will be required to pay the fee but will also be the only team to benefit from increased attributes.

Onboarding

To simplify the onboarding process and enhance the game experience, many of the Neo Soccer processes will not take place on-chain. The development team believes this approach will make it easier to attract new users who might not be proficient with blockchain services, tools, and features. However, the Neo Soccer team plans to allow users to create NFT versions of characters and stadiums to withdraw to their Neo wallets. This would freeze a player’s contract and age until sent back to the Neo Soccer game and would enable trading on platforms such as GhostMarket.

The Neo Soccer open beta is currently live, but the number of users that can play is currently limited to 40. Interested users can visit the NEO-BITS Discord server and request an invite code.

Registration for Neo Soccer season two can be found at the link below:
https://neo.soccer/

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