YNWA: And maybe, just before we click on record, this week is probably the most exciting week in terms of announcements regarding the platform since the launch in 2019. Nicolas & Brian were really active and you cannot miss the news about Sorare.

Yes, I was contacted by a lot of friends in France because it is historic. I joined at the end of June 2021. When I was on holiday, I heard about Marseille joining Sorare and NFTs. At that time, I tried to create an account but did not buy any players. Then, approximately eight months later, I began investing in crypto and returned to Sorare. Today, I am crazy about this game. I finished the construction of my U23 - D2. To make the long story short, in the beginning, I was thinking to go for U23 D2 but after I said: "WoW, it is too expensive". Bigger managers than me helped a lot, like you Hibee & YNWA, thanks a lot for that. I still don't know where I want to finish. Maybe I will finish in D1 and play with Unique only. Right now, I always go for the best values, which are SR for the moment, IMO.

Hibee: I do believe that this is the best choice. Because new managers want the full versions of Liverpool, Juventus & top clubs. But I believe buying players' SR cards these days is the best way to build strong galleries.

I am sure that I need to buy players that I am scouting. As I tried to become a football agent earlier in my life, it is now tiny revenge on life to scouting on Sorare. For example, a friend of mine told me to go on Gabriel on the Secondary Market, and finally, I firmly believe he will remain a Center-Back Starter.

YNWA: Yes, and moreover, it is part of these players that are not produced anymore until the club (Arsenal, in that case) signs a deal with Sorare because the only way to get a Gabriel now is to go directly to negotiate with a current owner.

Changes you want to see on the platform

Hibee: What for you is missing on the platform?

For me, DNPs are a problem because sometimes you just cannot forecast that there will be a DNP. So I would love to benefit from a substitute system.

I would love to have a direct chat to discuss directly with managers instead of going on Discord.

Last but not least, a better negotiation interface where you can counter-offer and add conditions (like having a percentage of the next sale). So far we could go into the negotiation and in elaborating deals, the better it would be.

YNWA: I love that point, and I agree. Everybody is looking for a discount, and that includes the sellers, not only the buyers. At the moment, that is done on trust, but Sorare is there to replicate what is happening in real life. For example, you sold a player that helped to secure a prize in a new manager gallery, and in the agreement, you said that you get a percentage of this prize.

Hibee: Moreover, of course, we know that managers are wanting this kind of feature, but we can imagine that Sorare might take a fee on these transactions.

Lionel Messi

The coming of Messi is terrible for me. I have dreamed about Messi, and he is my favorite player. But as a Marseille fan, something terrible happen because he signed for PSG. So if I win a Messi card as a reward, I will have a Messi with a PSG shirt. That's not possible for me. I cannot go for this card, then. Anyway, it is excellent for Sorare because he could be a legend already.

YNWA: The Rare Cards are bought for 5 to 6 ETH when Limited costs nearly 1 ETH, so a significant amount that is logical for a significant player.

We do not know the adaptability of Messi as he always played for Barcelona. I am not sure he will score high scores. If you are looking for the collectability aspect, then it is a good choice, in my opinion.

YNWA: I do not support PSG or Marseille, but if we look at Payet, for example, he is still not getting good numbers for Marseille at the moment, but nobody doubts. I think it is the same for Messi.

Hibee: That's for sure Messi will score high because he is an exceptional player.

$680M, a whole new level

YNWA: Sorare has broken all the records regarding fund-raised companies, so we are talking about a platform that has existed for three years. Even the French President said: "WoW".

Yes, even when introducing the Française des Jeux, the valuation was less than $4B. It is unbelievable what Sorare has succeeded in doing.

Hibee: How much is that big within France? It looks like it is huge, even if you are not French.

Even friends that do not know football asked me: "Have you heard about Sorare?"

YNWA: To really go mainstream, it needs time, and it will be interesting to check how many new users will come from France.

Hibee: In terms of conversion, we need to know what Sorare needs to do next. How do you act on that news, what level of retention do we expect, how will they react when new users will see the prices for the first time, there are a lot of suggestions to be accepted, and so on… That's for sure that a free-to-play game like the Rookie League (available with only Common Cards) will help the retention, are 8 weeks enough? Loans and other kinds of smart contracts will help to onboard. Let's hope that this growth continues.

YNWA: In the last few weeks, we saw clubs from Mexico and Peru. It is really important that everyone has a remember as a football fan to keep cards.

Legends

YNWA: The Legends cards helped people to think about what the platform will go next because it is a big iteration

When I saw the Legends announcement, it remembers that time does not matter in the metaverse; players can continue to play. I did not understand very well about the Legends cards. In other games, in Football Manager, for example, it is not so good for people to mix reality & fantasy. I do not know what the reaction will be, but I think we have to limit the impact of Legends because the results should be linked to reality, and in real life, you do not see Ronaldo or Cannavaro playing on the weekends.

YNWA: If someone comes to the platform, they will want to look for the top European stars because new people will come for well-known stars, Legends, but they will not look to Belgium or Asian players. Legends are just incredible, but with that said, we need to take care of the balance to improve the retention rate of users.

Maybe, we will need divisions inside the scarcity divisions in the future.

Hibee: Yes, separation is essential. But these Legends will be able to see new game designs. It is essential to provide utility to "low-tier" cards. Sorare has my complete confidence because they always have done things to move forward in the right direction. So I do not think that they introduced Legends without thinking about how they can onboard new clubs. I think that the team is thinking for everyone to benefit.