Stockholm-based startup GOALS has collected $20 million in a Series A funding round led by Reddit founder Alexis Ohanian’s Seven Seven Six. With this funding round’s completion, the startup, GOALS, has amassed a total of $39 million in funding so far. Notably, Peter Sellis, SVP of Product at Discord, Wayne Mackey, CEO and Founder of Statespace / Aimlabs, Riqui Puig, LA Galaxy midfielder, and Clement Langlet, center-back for Tottenham Hotspur, have joined as new angel investors, along with previous investors such as Northzone, Moonfire, Cassius, Cherry Ventures, Banana Capital, Not Boring Capital, and angel investors like Nicolas Julia, founder of Sorare, Matthew Ball, Magdalena Kala, and Gerard Piqué, former Barcelona defender and Founder and CEO of KOSMOS. The fresh funds will be utilized to expedite the development of GOALS’ first game in the football genre.
“GOALS was born out of our passion for football, our passion for video games and our opinion that football video games have grown stale,” said Thorstensson, who played more than 5000 matches of the world’s current largest football game before stopping out of frustration over the lack of innovation and technical issues. “There are over 3.5 billion football fans in the world, and our team is united in the belief that a football game done right should be the world’s biggest video game. We’re focused on making sure we have a game that meets the needs of every fan, whether they’re looking for casual or highly competitive play, what hardware they play on, no matter where they live.”
GOALS is changing up the traditional football game formula, focusing on fun, fast and fluid gameplay over hyperrealism. In addition to standard 11v11 matches for 2 players (versus or co-op) and casual play, the team is also adding a 5v5 mode, GOALS: GO, where all players are user controlled, increasing the social and competitive aspect of football games, with a priority to making the game esports ready straight from launch. GOALS is free-to-play, with cross-play across consoles and PC, and optimizations that will ensure the game runs on older consoles and more accessible PC hardware.
“What drew us to GOALS was the team’s vigorous ambition and the intention behind its plan to reach it,” said Alexis Ohanian, founder of Seven Seven Six. “The studio is on a mission to bring a fun football game to the masses and to eliminate any barriers or inequities that may exist for players, no matter where they live or what hardware they’re running. It’s been amazing to not only see the progress GOALS has made so far, but to also play it for ourselves. There’s a ton of potential in the team’s approach to design and technology that can extend well beyond this first game and football entirely.”
Currently in pre-alpha, the team at GOALS are building this game for and with the community, and will continue to share progress openly and transparently throughout the entirety of development. You can join the growing GOALS community on Discord, follow the game’s development on Twitter and YouTube, and learn more about the game and sign up for a chance to be an early playtester.
