Upcoming football video game GOALS has announced the appointment of two senior executives from the gaming industry.
Ebba Ljungerud and Oskar Gabrielson have both joined the leadership team of the company by taking seats on the company’s Board.
Gabrielson has joined as an Executive Board Member, per his LinkedIn profile. Ljungerud’s position was not specified, though the company noted that she had also joined as a Board member.
GOALS is an upcoming football video game being developed by the eponymous GOALS studio, founded by SK Gaming’s co-founder Andreas Thorstensson. The game looks to compete with the likes of FIFA and eFootball, but will also incorporate blockchain technology.
GOALS raised $20m (£16.1m) in Series A funding in April 2023, which the company said will be used to “fast track the production of the game,” and scale up the studio.
The new hires both bring extensive leadership and game development experience. Ebba Ljungerud was the CEO of video game publisher Paradox Interactive from 2018 until 2021, and before that held senior positions at gambling company Kindred Group. She has filled different advisory and executive positions since.
Gabrielson, meanwhile, worked in gaming media in Sweden before founding his own company Streaming Emotions in 2002. His second company, ESN, was acquired by Electronic Arts in 2012, after which Gabrielson held position of General Manager and Executive Producer at Electronic Arts, followed by the position of VP, General Manager and Chief Executive Officer at EA DICE.
“GOALS is hugely exciting, both the company and the game, with the world’s biggest sport in focus. I am really happy about the trust to work closely with Andreas and the team,” Ljungerud commented in a LinkedIn announcement post.
Both of the new appointments bring impressive leadership experience to GOALS at a time when the comapny aims to break into the football sim market, which has been dominated by FIFA and eFootball (previously PES) for more than a decade.
However, with FIFA and EA ending their relationship and going their separate ways as a result, and with lots of momentum and funding behind GOALS, there may be an opportunity to become competitive.
EA Sports will continue to create its video games without the FIFA label, while FIFA is reportedly set to lend its name to a different video game in the future.
