The upcoming arcade-style Hall of GOATs video game merges playable digital avatars of Caleb Williams, Matt Leinart, Vince Young, Deuce Vaughn, and more.
Hall of GOATs, the Matt Leinart- and Caleb Williams-created NFT platform made to help student-athletes capitalize on their NIL rights, is diving into the video game space.
While the NFT market itself continues to dip, the opportunity for college athletes to build their brands is still rising. Hall of GOATs’ new venture will shift the company’s efforts to a free arcade-style college football game that merges digital avatars, offering fans the opportunity to interact with their favorite players, both in and out of the game.
“Who doesn’t love playing video games, especially college football fans, Gen Z, and even people in our generation?” Leinart told Boardroom. “The shift to focus on the video game was incredible to be a part of. The conversations with athletes have been exciting — you can play as yourself in an NFL Blitz-like arcade game while making money on the secondary market. This is just a different model than anywhere else. NIL isn’t going anywhere — there is a lot of money in this space — and we feel like we’ve positioned ourselves to really build something long-term.”
Set to launch in early 2024, Hall of GOATs released a trailer for the game previewing gameplay features and a roster of current and past college football stars from powerhouses such as USC, Texas, Wisconsin, Kansas State, and Ole Miss, among others to come.
The full trailer can be seen here:
“Gaming is something I love to do in my downtime,” Williams said. “It’s exciting to be a part of something that will elevate players like me with new opportunities in digital collectibles and gaming.”
Hall of GOATs’ initial roster of playable digital avatars includes:
- Braelon Allen, Wisconsin running back
- Caleb Williams, USC quarterback
- Deuce Vaughn, Kansas State running back
- LenDale White, former USC running back, Two-time National Champion
- Matt Leinart, former USC quarterback, 2004 Heisman Trophy winner, Two-time National Champion
- Ron Dayne, former Wisconsin running back, 1999 Heisman Trophy winner
- Vince Young, former Texas quarterback, 2005 National Champion
- Xavier Worthy, Texas wide receiver
- Zach Evans, Ole Miss running back
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“Our video game really gives college athletes an easy win on the NIL side to generate cash,” said Hall of GOATs CEO Greig Carlson, a former two-time national champion wide receiver at USC. “This is a long-term play for them with passive income opportunities through royalties and secondary marketplace transactions. The athletes also have the opportunity to lean into the audience with fans who buy their avatars and provide access and perks they can’t get anywhere else.”
Ahead of the release of these digital avatars, Hall of GOATs will launch its first collectible: a Founder’s Pass ($99.99) during a 72-hour window on its official website. The pass will unlock such benefits for fans as early access to all future player avatar drops, discounts on all in-game purchases, access to the video game Beta, exclusive airdrops of digital merchandise to customize players, and voting rights for game design decisions and community event planning. Per Hall of GOATs, this pass provides instant utility that directly connects fans with their favorite players.
The athlete digital avatars will launch in multiple tiers ($20-$50) with specific benefits and rarity assigned to each level. Fans will have the opportunity to engage with their favorite players through rewards, including exclusive memorabilia, private gaming sessions, and ticket giveaways to college football games, among other benefits.
With a rumored July 2023 return of the long-anticipated EA Sports’ NCAA Football game franchise, fan and athlete conversations around college football video games have reignited. Hall of GOATs is positioning itself to fill a different void than a traditional game.
“We are former athletes building a video game for athletes and their fans,” Carlson said. “This is an arcade-style game and there is a ton of white space in that realm. We have the ability to take so many liberties on the creative side because we are not a traditional game.”
These liberties will be led by someone who knows a thing or two about sports video games. Hall of GOATs has hired 20-plus-year gaming industry veteran Brian Graham, who previously worked on EA’s Madden and NBA Live.
“The developmental stage of game building is like a blank sheet of paper,” Graham said. “You get a chance to find the soul of your experience and what will make it unique and worthy of players’ attention and time. Joining Hall of GOATs takes me back to an older era of sports games from my arcade days, where we have creative liberty and can build on something that focuses on just being fun.”
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