UFL review: How good is the free-to-play game funded by Ronaldo?

It’s the 89th minute and I’m 4-0 down to a chap from Barcelona almost twice my age. A smile dawns on his face. Not so fast, Senor.

Steering Harry Kane towards goal, I hold down the shoot button from 30 yards and hope for the best. It happens: a screamer off the underside of the bar. Wonderful strike. Take that, Spain. Where was this brilliance at Euro 2024, I wonder, as I punch the air. 

We’re at the headquarters of UFL in a tower in Paphos, Cyprus, overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. Sweet surroundings, fun game. In development since 2016, UFL is aiming to bloody some noses at EA Sports FC – traditionally known as FIFA – when it comes out later this year on Xbox and PlayStation. And in my view, it can.

They’ve got elite backing. Investors include Cristiano Ronaldo, Kevin De Bruyne, Roberto Firmino, and Oleksandr Zinchenko. UFL wouldn’t reveal the total amount of investment, but the consortium involving Ronaldo ploughed in £32million in December, to take one round of funding as an example. Around 1.3m people played the first open beta in June, while the game has 838,000 followers on Instagram.

And its trump card over EA Sports FC? It’s free to play.

Mail Sport was invited along to test the game and explore the critical question: can this really be a long-term challenger to a behemoth that for years has had no serious competitors, an institution of bedroom gaming set-ups across the land?

While being a favourite, the FIFA/EA Sports FC series has long been accused of fostering a pay-to-win model on Ultimate Team – hand us your money and we’ll give you packs where you might unlock Lionel Messi or Lionel Nobody. There are also complaints about the game being very similar each year with the same problems. 

And it flies off the shelves each season regardless.  

UFL want to break this cycle. They claim that their game rewards the skilful players who work hard to reach the top, with no cash injections, no parents waking up to emptied bank accounts.

Except it’s not entirely free. This isn’t a charity. Like Fortnite, UFL will be free to download but will bank on players making in-game purchases, also known as ‘microtransactions’. So, doesn’t that make it pay-to-win? Eugene Nashilov, CEO of the game’s parent company Strikers Inc., is adamant it does not.

'It's not a pay-to-win game. Any player in the game, you can buy for soft currency, which you earn through playing. If you want to get Ronaldo, you can grind and get him. It's not a chance story where you can get a pack,’ he tells Mail Sport.

Nashilov explains that players will be able to purchase a premium ‘battle pass,’ which will eventually allow them access to a broader range of players than non-paying battle pass users - not better players. There will also be the option to purchase stadiums and kits, superficial markers of allegiance to the club you support in real life.

‘We're trying to build a model that will not be that aggressive to the mass audience, especially the aspect related to getting players from loot boxes. Currently we don't have it - I can't say this will never happen, though. It depends on how the game will be received and how much money we'll be managing to make.

‘Obviously it's a huge investment in total, a lot of people who are expecting things to flourish. But we're not selling players in loot boxes and there is no player vs player transfer market.

‘We believe we can make substantial money on this model. We just need to figure out how to make it without bringing in toxicity from the audience. We are hoping to have 10-15m players in the first year.'

Bold ambitions. Rather than release the game year-on-year, UFL plan to bring out one edition and then update it frequently. They hope this will keep players on their toes by changing the quality and skills their footballers have – if Erling Haaland has a shoddy half-season, expect him to receive a downgrade.

The main mode will be similar to Ultimate Team. Players create a club and aim to rise through the divisions. You can only purchase players with money earned in the game and need a certain 'reputation' level, earned through winning, to buy high-quality stars. The very best will be allowed wildcard entry to an offline, in-person tournament designed for elite e-sports players. 

As for other modes, UFL are tight-lipped. At the moment, the only other option is an offline mode with fictional teams featuring teams full of licenced players. Nashilov claims they are developing a 'secret' new mode and will ‘experiment’ with a Pro Clubs-style mode.

UFL are in weekly conversation with Ronaldo’s camp, and the former Manchester United striker has even played it. Occasionally he has input over the ‘visual vibe’.

With a team of about 300 working on the game across multiple offices and remotely globally, the anticipation is high. 'Everyone is anxious to release it,’ says Nashilov. 'Eight years ago we were four people, and now we’re here.’ So, what's the game actually like? 

The first hurdle to clear for any game is whether it’s enjoyable to play. At least UFL passes this basic test.

The main thing I noticed when playing UFL is how manual it is. There is little assistance, meaning you’re very accountable for the passing, shooting, movement, tackling, and goalkeeping. It truly is based on skill.

Some of the streamers present at the test felt this would benefit the game at the top-level competitive end, but it might make it hard for newcomers to adapt and thrive.

It made for some comical moments, with goalkeepers positioned senselessly as strikers bore down on them. Passes often went astray or fell woefully short, but if you mastered it and had good vision, you could pull off some ridiculous through-balls. 

At times controlling the ball felt quite clunky, particularly when receiving the ball as the players often took a laboured first touch. That said, the skill moves are fluid – at one point Vinicius Jr. pulled off a beautiful rainbow flick and volley goal.

Plaudits should go to UFL for suppressing the impact of pace, which meant that older players such as Luka Modric could still flourish and not be drowned out in the way they might have been over the years on FIFA.

Shooting was easy and varied enough, though the penalty shoot-outs all ended with low scorelines because the spot-kicks were so responsive to stick movement. The only penalties I saw anyone score were along the ground and weak – anything wide or high was blasted into the ether.

There seemed to be a problem with the referees’ decisions – whether by design for realism or through a glitch was unclear. On a couple of occasions red cards were doled out or penalties given for challenges where the animation showed the player winning the ball, which was a source of great frustration – particularly when I had to concede a Panenka from Nathan Redmond.

On the Redmond note, there’s probably also work to be done on the player appearance side. The Burnley star looked more like Christian Abbiati. Mo Salah seemed 30 years deep into retirement. Ben Chilwell was inexplicably ginger.

The in-game management is solid. Players have a range of tactical styles and player instructions to choose from, putting it on industry-standard footing. My players responded well to the instructions I gave. Whether that was pressing high, dropping off, or taking a more possession-based approach, the changes in set-up were palpable on the pitch.

Sadly, the game lost some of its immersion because of the commentary, which was voiced by actors. Kudos to UFL for pursuing at least nine languages - that's great. But we were treated to a lot of generic comments such as ‘the players can't wait for kick-off and neither can we,’ 'this was a perfect attack: great teamwork,’ and my personal favourite: 'that's a second goal for the away team.' Extra points for a cheeky 'definitely offside, young man!' Or maybe: 'What a shot, and the save to match it! Definitely football the winner there.'

A major strength are the game’s menus. They’re very intuitive to navigate and the level of customisation was brilliant, right down to the type of socks and sleeves you want each of your players to wear. Players will be able to boost the attributes of their stars using ‘skins’ and by fulfilling objectives, while the chimistry of your squad will improve over time.

One unknown for the menus is the playlist. UFL told me that securing music has been a challenging process. One of the inimitable strengths of the old FIFAs was a classic soundtrack – will UFL be able to match that?

UFL expect around 5,000 players to be available to buy, whereas EA FC 24 has around 17,000. A deal with FIFPRO, the international players’ union, means licensing mostly is not an issue, but it has been with Brazilian and Saudi Pro League layers – there is no Neymar or N’Golo Kante, for example.

It’s the same story for the majority of football clubs. Specific partnerships have been struck with the likes of Monaco, Bayer Leverkusen, and West Ham (that one is currently being re-negotiated), but don’t expect the majority of Premier League teams to be available. Nashilov denied they would pursue a Konami-style route of making up club names. No 'Man Red'.

The player ratings are worked out using Hudl as a partner, with data from real-life games being fed into UFL’s algorithm. Some of the ratings felt wrong – Wes Foderingham, James Trafford, and Jordan Pickford are all on 82, but most felt about right.

Overall, UFL is a fun game to play. Across five matches – three of those wins, I should add – I was as engaged playing UFL as I would be playing FIFA in the good old days. 

Whether it can sustain a fanbase through an entire season and beyond is difficult to say, especially as it is just limited to the one online mode and offline exhibitions at the moment. There are plans for more, but they need to be realised fast. 

The main battle for UFL will be unseating a tradition that is so ingrained across the globe. People just buy FIFA/EA FC as a habit. But UFL has showed enough enjoyability and complexity for EA to be worried - and its free-to-play factor makes it a far more inclusive game for all.

Rating: 6.5/10