Sorare: Football Gameplay: Winter Update

Sorare Team

14 янв. · 17 min read

Sorare 2024/25 has been live for six months, and we’re beyond excited about the positive response from our Community!

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With this new gameplay, we transitioned to an In-Season and Classic Season format, streamlined the competition structure, and introduced a clear progression system that allows Managers to climb divisions and earn well-deserved rewards.

As promised, we’re rolling out key gameplay updates during defined windows—winter and summer—to continually refine and elevate the gameplay introduced in August 2024.

Staying true to our commitment, these updates are communicated in advance, ensuring our community has ample time to evaluate and evolve their strategies when needed.

With this winter update we continue to build for the fans, with the fans. It covers competition structure, gameplay, rewards, divisions, and more. We believe it will create a more thrilling, rewarding, and seamless experience for every Sorare Manager.

Competition Structure Updates

Celebrate The New MLS Competition

MLS super fans, get ready! A brand-new dedicated competition for your favorite MLS players is coming to Sorare for the 2025 season!

With this, MLS joins the Premier League, LALIGA, and Bundesliga as a league-specific competition and will no longer be a part of the Challenger leagues.

Get ready to take your fandom to the next level!

Why MLS deserves a dedicated competition

MLS has a unique identity within Sorare: it’s the competition with the most teams, its own seasonal rhythm, and one of the most balanced competitions worldwide.

This update enhances the consistency and fairness of our competition structure. MLS cards will no longer compete against European Challenger cards, which often have vastly different seasonal dynamics and XP levels —especially in March when European cards typically have higher XP.

The introduction of the new MLS competition unlocks new opportunities to compete. With three additional lineup slots available for each scarcity in the In-Season (2025) and Classic MLS competitions, you’ll have even more chances to strategize and succeed!

With this change, Challenger Essence will exclusively reward cards from the updated Challenger leagues (no MLS card). You can craft MLS cards by collecting MLS Essence, which will be available through the new MLS competitions once they launch.

Updates to Challenger and Contender

Additionally, the Brazilian coverage will transition from the Challenger competition to the Contender, allowing Challenger to shift to a fully European seasonal alignment.

Here’s a glimpse at the updated competition structure starting Game Week 55, February 21st – February 25th:

Following this update, the Challenger prize pool won’t be significantly changed; it will simply align with the size you currently see during Game Weeks when MLS teams aren’t active.

A Brand New Beat the Game Format For the New MLS Competition (ONLY)

We’re thrilled to unveil an exciting new Beat the Game mode as part of our In-Season MLS Limited and Rare competitions, featuring a revamped threshold system with cash rewards.

Line ups with 5 In-Season MLS cards will compete for leaderboard prize pools and also unlock the chance to earn additional cash rewards in the Beat the Game threshold mode. This means your lineup can win prizes in two ways: by performing on the leaderboard and by hitting a points target.

If your lineup includes 4 In-Season cards and 1 Classic card, your lineup will compete in the leaderboard prize pools for Cash, Essence, and XP, but it will not be eligible for the Beat the Game mode.

Full details will be revealed in early February, alongside the prize pool and team slot distribution announcements.

Get ready to experience the MLS passion more than ever before!

Cash rewards may be awarded in cash or in ETH.

Get Ready for the next Early Access Launches

Early Access revolutionized how Sorare Managers and fans gear up for the season, offering the chance to secure cards and compete when anticipation is at its peak, before the season starts.

We’re excited to confirm that MLS, K League, J League, will all have cards available in Early Access packs ahead of each seasons’ start. We’ll also do our best to launch the Argentinian clubs’ cards before the season kicks off.

Start shaping your strategies now—and stay tuned!

Core Gameplay Updates

An Improved XP System

We’re introducing a fresh, streamlined approach to XP that brings more strategy and clarity to your card progression. These changes will take effect for Game Week 55, February 21st – February 25th.

What is changing?

XP Bar: Win XP items as rewards that directly fill your XP bar, allowing you to accumulate XP and allocate it to the cards you want to level up. This new flexible system replaces Level Ups, which were too restrictive because they required precise timing – right after a card leveled up – for maximum impact. Don’t worry—you’ll have time to use any remaining Level Ups in your inventory before a deadline we’ll announce in advance.
10 Levels, 1% bonus per Level: Card XP will follow a more simple progression system. Instead of 20 levels, there will be 10. Each level grants a solid 1% bonus (no more 0.5% increments).
Two ways to gain XP: Gain XP by actively leveling your cards up with accumulated XP. A second way to earn XP is through your lineups, based on a straightforward formula tied to your lineup’s total score (details of the exact formula will be shared once the new system is live). Cards not played in lineups will no longer accumulate passive XP.

Key Details to Keep in Mind:

Smooth transition: Your cards will seamlessly adapt to the new system, retaining their current XP bonuses. Only minor adjustments will be made, if necessary.
Cooldown Period: After a card levels up, there will be a cooldown period before you can level it again. The cooldown period will vary by card level: the higher the level, the longer the cooldown.
XP is Sport and Scarcity Specific: Similar to Essence, XP will be specific to both a sport and a scarcity.
Trading Penalty: A 50% penalty on XP will continue to apply when trading cards.

The updated XP system brings greater flexibility, empowering you to allocate XP across multiple cards for smarter, more intuitive and strategic progression.

More details on XP and training teams will be shared in early February.

Division Structure Adjustments

We’re making some key adjustments to the division structure for In-Season and Classic competitions to streamline gameplay and improve the reward experience. The below changes will go live for Game Week 55, February 21st – February 25th.

What’s Changing?

Limited: Reduced from 5 divisions to 3.
Rare: Reduced from 4 divisions to 3.
Super Rare: Reduced from 3 divisions to 1 division.
Unique: Remains at 1 division.

Promotion and relegation rates have been adjusted to ensure balanced competition and maintain excitement. Here are the updated numbers for promotion and relegation in both the Limited and Rare divisions:

Each competition’s global prize pool will remain the same but will be more concentrated according to the new division structure.

The same total rewards will now be distributed across the updated structure:

Limited: 3 divisions instead of 5
Rare: 3 divisions instead of 4
Super Rare: 1 division instead of 3.

Why does this improve your gameplay?

Better Reward Distribution: By consolidating divisions, we can focus prize pools more effectively, ensuring a better reward experience for Managers in each division and reducing dilution across too many divisions.
Quicker Progression: Starting at Division 5 and working your way up through five divisions could feel slow and intimidating, taking months to reach Division 1. With this change, climbing divisions will be faster and more motivating, giving you a clearer path to success.
Enhancing the Super Rare experience: With fewer participants in the Super Rare category and significant supply constraints compared to Limited and Rare, having multiple Super Rare divisions did not align with the ideal competition and gameplay experience. This updated structure ensures fairness and improves the reward experience for Super Rare Managers by focusing rewards within one single, competitive division.

Team Slot Adjustments

With the shift to a streamlined division structure, current team slots in Limited and Rare will be redistributed across the new 3-division system.

We’ll share a detailed breakdown of how these team slots will be allocated in early February, ahead of the update going live.

Classic Cards’ Slot in In-Season Competitions

We’re introducing progressive adjustments to Classic Slots for In-Season lineups in our core competitions for Super Rare and Unique scarcities. These changes vary by scarcity and competition, with a phased rollout designed to ensure a smooth transition.

These adjustments aim to bring consistency to the gameplay across all scarcities. It will also refine the competition in the Super Rare and Unique scarcities by narrowing the pool of eligible cards, ultimately making it easier for Managers to win rewards with lower scores.

Here’s a breakdown of the changes:

Game Week 55, February 21st – February 25th:
- For ALL In-Season Super Rare competitions, Classic slots will be reduced from 2 to 1. That means the new requirements will be: A minimum of 4 In-Season cards (up from 3) and a maximum of 1 Classic card (down from 2).
- For the new MLS In-Season Unique competitions (ONLY), Classic slots will also be reduced from 2 to 1.
2025/26 Season:
- For ALL In-Season Unique competitions, Classic slots will be reduced from 2 to 1.

That means the following requirements will apply for all scarcities and all In-Season competitions starting next August:

Minimum 4 In-Season cards and maximum 1 Classic card.

For the remainder of the European season, and the following competitions: the Premier League, Bundesliga, LALIGA, Champion, Challenger, and Contender 2024-25, there will still be 2 Classic slots in In-Season Unique lineups.

Unique competitions that are already well underway and which have more important supply constraints will have a longer transition period, ensuring Managers have enough time to adapt to the new structure.

Rewards Revamp: Improved Reward Quality

With the new competition structure and division changes, we’re upgrading our reward system for all core competitions (Premier League, LALIGA, Bundesliga, Champion, Challenger, Contender, and U23) to revamp and enhance prize pools.

This upgrade goes live starting Game Week 55 (February 21–25). Here are a few key factors driving these improvements:

No More Double Rewards: For In-Season and Classic competitions, Managers will no longer receive two different types of rewards for the same lineup performance. This means that if a Manager wins cash prizes or cards, they will no longer receive additional Essence rewards or a box for the same result. This change allows us to improve reward quality across prize pools. The podiums of existing Classic competitions will remain an exception to this rule, with both cash and cards awarded for the same ranks.
Essence will be rewarded directly through the leaderboard offering fixed Essence amounts rather than varying numbers and odds through reward boxes. Reward boxes, featuring more varied items such as market credits, will still be part of Special Events.
Increased Essence Distribution: Now that our Essence economy is more mature, we’ve gained valuable insights into our supply management and distribution. As a result, we’re delighted to announce that we can slightly increase the overall Essence distributed across all scarcities.
New XP System Rewards: The introduction of the new XP system brings fresh rewards thanks to the XP amounts you can win as items, in In-Season Competitions only. This allows us to maintain a balanced XP economy and avoid excessive XP distribution, keeping in mind that Classic cards carry more XP from past seasons.

Below, you can find the updated Limited Champion prize pools for both In-Season and Classic Limited competitions.

To view all the new prize pools for the existing core competitions, check out the full details in this blog.

Rewards Automatic Claim:

If unclaimed after 14 days, rewards will be automatically claimed for validated accounts. This new rule takes effect on Friday, January 17th, and will be applied retroactively to all past rewards. After 14 days, if unclaimed, your cash will be added to your wallet, your cards will be transferred to your club, and your reward boxes will automatically open, with Essence, credits, and Level Ups added to their respective balances.

Please note that this only applies to validated accounts with verified phone numbers. Accounts that are not verified but have rewards pending auto-claim will receive an email reminder. This email will inform them that they have three days to verify their account before the rewards are permanently forfeited.

Essence Updates

As we’re halfway through Essence’s first year of existence, on top of an increase of Essence rewards, here is some important information, especially regarding the transition to the next season in August.

Essence Expiry

Essence will not expire at the end of the 2024/25 season: You no longer have to worry about your Essence expiring with the end of the 2024/25 season. You can carry over up to 550 Essence for Limited, Rare and Super Rare, and 330 for Unique into the 2025-26 season without any time pressure.

Card Crafting Timeline Adjustment:

Next season in August, card crafting will be possible two weeks after a competition begins.

This means there will be a two-week latency between the start of the European season and the opening of the Card Factory for the relevant competitions.

This adjustment will help the Market and data points stabilize, ensuring that you craft players from the correct tiers and avoid crafting players who may be misclassified.

With February launches, crafting will exceptionally remain open. However, please keep in mind that the Contender tiers will be impacted by the K League and J League launches, so plan your crafting carefully. At any point, you can check the breakdown of Essence pools by tier here.

Collection Game

Duplicate Cards Collection Bonus

Currently, if you have duplicates in your collection, only the card with the highest collection score receives the collection bonus.

We’re updating this so that all cards of a player from the same scarcity and season will receive the collection bonus. This change will bring the collection game in line with the NBA version and offer more flexibility for Managers who want to collect multiple cards of their favorite players from the same season. This change will go live when the MLS start, mid February.

Please note, however, that we are not changing how cards contribute to your overall collection score. As it stands, only the card with the highest collection score contributes to the album score, and this will remain unchanged.

Rivals ‘Last Dance’ and The New Game Mode

We know how much you have loved Rivals. It has brought a unique, daily, casual twist to Sorare, but as its gameplay differed significantly from the main Pro mode, it couldn’t fully meet the goals it was designed for. With that in mind, we’ve made the tough decision to retire Rivals by the end of February.

Please note that the Essence previously distributed in Rivals will be reallocated to Sorare Pro prize pools, enhancing them as outlined above.

But don’t worry—this isn’t the end without a celebration. Expect a grand farewell for this beloved mode in its final weeks.

And here’s the good news: Rivals is making way for something new.

We’re excited to announce that a brand-new casual game mode is on its way! The Beta will launch before Rivals ends, likely around mid-February. Without spoiling too much, you can look forward to a game with daily components, card packs, and plenty of surprises. This new game will also bring back Common card ownership and introduce a burn mechanism for added strategy and fun!

Stay tuned for what promises to be an exciting new addition to the Sorare universe!

A Glimpse at Next Season

These winter updates are designed to deliver meaningful improvements and enhance the gameplay experience for our Managers.

However, as most leagues and competitions are already underway, we’ve avoided making major mid-season changes. We know that there are specific areas Managers still want improved, particularly Classic mode. That’s why we’re targeting August, the start of the new European season, as the time for broader, and more ambitious changes to Classic gameplay.

Our commitment is to build for our Managers and with our Managers. As you’ve seen through our surveys, interviews, and testing, your feedback is at the heart of our decision-making process. This approach will only grow stronger in the coming months as we continue shaping the future of Sorare together.

Everything will be announced with ample notice, ensuring full transparency, especially for significant changes.

In the coming weeks, members of the Sorare team will continue to engage with the community to dive deeper into these topics, provide additional context for our decisions, and foster open discussions with our Community. This will include appearances in streams, podcasts, and Pitch Notes.

We sincerely thank you for your continued support and invaluable feedback. Together, we’re shaping Sorare into something greater, and we’re more excited than ever for everything that lies ahead!