GOALS scores $20M series A funding in pursuit of giving football the game it deserves.
Investment round led by Seven Seven Six brings GOALS total funding to $39M and will accelerate hiring and production of the studio’s ambitious self-titled debut video game.
STOCKHOLM, April 19, 2023 - Today, Stockholm-based GOALS announced it has secured $20M in Series A financing, led by Alexis Ohanian’s Seven Seven Six along with Northzone, Moonfire and Cassius. Founded in 2021 by Andreas Thorstensson, former Counter Strike WorldChampion and founder of leading esports organization SK Gaming, this investment brings total funding to $39M, and will help fast track production of GOALS, the studio’s first game that is aiming at nothing short of bringing a revolution to the football genre. The team is currently 50 people strong, with a world-class team of veterans from some of the biggest franchises and developers in gaming – Battlefield, FIFA, Madden, EA, Activision, Ubisoft and more. They will be ramping up to 75 people over the next few years, with several key roles in engineering being prioritized and open right now.
“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 , follow the game’s development on and , and learn more about the game and sign up for a chance to be an early playtester at .
With this Series A round now closed, GOALS now has secured $39M in total funding. In addition to investments from Seven Seven Six, Northzone, Moonfire and Cassius, this round brought new angel investors onboard, including Peter Sellis, SVP or Product, Discord, Wayne Mackey, Founder and CEO or Statespace / Aimlabs, Riqui Puig, LA Galaxy midfielder, and Clément Lenglet, center-back for Tottenham Hotspur. Other funds involved in previous rounds include Cherry Ventures, Banana Capital and Not Boring Capital and previous angel investors include Nicolas Julia, founder of Sorare, Matthew Ball, Magdalena Kala and former Barcelona defender and Founder and CEO of KOSMOS, Gerard Piqué.
GOALS is headquartered in Stockholm, and remote first (within Europe), giving potential new teammates the flexibility on where and when they work. Open positions to join the team in their ambitious journey to create the game football truly deserves are now posted at .
About GOALS
GOALS is a remote-first AAA game studio, with headquarters in Stockholm, with 50+ employees united in their attempt to give football the game it deserves. Founded by industry veterans Andreas Thorstensson, Hampus Ericstam, Liza Lind, Göran Syberg Falguera and Hampus Ohlsson, the team at GOALS are focusing on developing a free-to-play football game for everyone – for the casuals and the pros, for the players, the managers and the fans. Where fun is prioritized over realism, and where the community will be invited behind the scenes and to help build the game with the studio.
For Media Inquiries
Please contact: playgoals@fortyseven.com.