Proprietary mobile gaming publishing and acquisition platform SPARQ announced that it has entered into pre-production of its first game title, Crown U™, featuring collegiate sports trademarks and name, image, likenesses (NIL) of the greatest male and female athletes in the university sports ecosystem.
Crown U™ is a fast-paced, multiplayer game featuring real college athletes, schools, and stadiums in exciting cross-sport competition. Unlike traditional sports sims, Crown U™ blends fun and skill-based game play with the chaotic energy of party knockout games like Fall Guys™. In unique fashion, the Sparq team utilized their intensive, proprietary AI approach to select the game genre, subgenre, game mechanics, and game economy features. With an optional blockchain-enabled rewards program, fans can optionally earn incentives through cryptocurrency tokens and digital assets in the off-game Sparq Locker Room™. It’s an elegant blend of Web2 and Web3 gaming features.
Sparq’s publishing and acquisition team has over 140 years of experience working on some of the most valued IP in existence, having formerly led efforts for Lord of the Rings™, Marvel Comics™, Dungeons & Dragons™, Game of Thrones™, Madden NFL™, and over 25 other major game titles. Sparq’s veteran-led, proprietary gamer acquisition engine is also fueled by AI support and cutting-edge user acquisition tools and applications.
“Our experienced team is strategically blending blockchain technology and our proprietary AI approach to mobile game publishing and acquisition to connect passionate college sports fans around the world to university brands and the storied traditions, excitement, and experiences that make the college sports experience so completely unique,” said Jan Horsfall, CEO and co-founder at Sparq Games.
As part of the extended relationship, Sparq will enable universities across the U.S such as the University of Utah to monetize their committed fan bases. Sparq will target over 700 universities and direct NIL gaming integration from more than 100,000 men and women collegiate athletes, providing unparalleled opportunities for fan and gamer engagement through the power of modern gaming. The athletes themselves will get paid through a blockchain backend that assures all vital record-keeping of activities will be on hand for each athlete and university to verify NCAA compliance.
“While legacy brands such as EA sports predominantly focus on console games, Sparq is intensely focused on fast, fun play in mobile gaming, tapping into the world’s most engaged fan base,” said Jeffrey Steefel, Head of Games at Sparq. “Over 65% of Americans over the age of 12 have a favorite college sports team and fan engagement in college sports is higher than FIFA, NFL, NBA, MLB, F1, or the Olympics, and this team has years of experience with that kind of IP-based fan service with games,” added Steefel.
Sparq’s mission is dedicated to empowering athletes worldwide by creating exceptional, highly engaging sports games that not only entertain gamers and fans, but also financially support the athletes involved. “In simple terms, the success of Sparq means that thousands of college athletes will profit from their names and images being featured in a range of video games. We have a goal of releasing up to ten mobile games on our publishing and acquisition platform by the end of 2029. With five out of six founding team members being ex-college athletes themselves, we have firsthand insights into how to make that happen,” Horsfall noted.