The time has come.
After lots of long nights and thousands of coffees consumed, we now have some exciting news…the MLS Player Engine Test is ready to begin!
First and foremost, a quick note from the CLUB Team: we keep saying it, but the supportive and positive culture amongst our community is incredible. We are honestly blown away by the excitement, especially given how early you all are on the journey. Thanks again and keep it up COs! 🚀
What are the Test objectives?
Firstly, this isn’t the final game. In fact it probably contains as little as 10% of planned features. What we are testing however is incredibly important and focusses on refining the part of the game which covers scoring of real-world players, what we call the ‘Player Engine’, allowing us to ensure:
- CO’s can intuitively and successfully pick a team of players
- Player scoring functions and pulls through to devices during gameweeks
- Scores reflect the real player performances we all see on the pitch
The test will have bugs. Some are known as listed in the patch notes (see discord channel) and inevitably some we are unaware of. That’s the purpose of testing and why we need the help of our Founding Club Owners. Please be patient with us as the bugs surface and we address them in the coming weeks.
To reiterate — and this is important — the rest of the game inc. the club building experience, your infrastructure, the UI, social features, progression and more are all things that we are developing and will be tested in later phases with you and wider groups of COs as part of Season Zero (22/23 season).
We will mainly communicate with you about the test on Discord so please join us there if you haven’t done so already. There will be a dedicated channel for feedback so feel free to comment in there and obviously please bear in mind our test objectives as outlined above. We assured you as our founding community that we wanted you to help shape the game, so here’s your first real chance.
There are more details on the MLS test after the Download/Login instructions, so make sure to read further if you have time.
Download and Login Instructions 📱
iOS
- All Founding COs will receive access to the Player Engine Test.
- iOS users will have received emails from TestFlight with a link that you’ll need to click. This email will be the same address you use to login to your account on the CLUB website.
- Click the link in the email and it will prompt you to download the TestFlight app (if you don’t already have it). Once you have installed the TestFlight app, return to the email and click on the link.
- Once the link is clicked you will arrive at the TestFlight page where the test is downloadable.
- Once downloaded to your device, COs will be asked to create an account. Ensure you use the same login details (email & password) as you do on the CLUB website. Other details will not work.
- Your Player Engine Test journey then begins…
Android (please follow very carefully)
- All Founding COs will receive access to the Player Engine Test.
- Android users will be able to download directly from the Play Store: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.playerft.clubgame (this link will not work for those on iOS or if your PlayStore account email does not match your CLUB Email — see point 4).
- Only Founding Club Owners will be able to gain access so you will need to be logged in to the Play Store with the same email address that you use for the CLUB website. If your Play Store account does not match your CLUB Website email address, you can add an additional account (your CLUB email address) to your Play Store in your settings. You can then download the app either by clicking the link above or searching for ‘clubgame’.
- Once downloaded to your device, COs will be able to open the test and create an account. Ensure you use the same details (email & password) as you do on the CLUB website.
- Your Player Engine Test journey then begins…
For those not on Discord, the CLUB Team will be able to support on email too within working hours.
Further Player Engine Test Information 🏟️
Club Owner Journey
- Once the app is downloaded (instructions above) and you are logged in, CO’s will be able to choose an owner name, create a profile and name their Club. Founding CO’s will already have their Club’s name there at the start.
- Basic badge and kit customisation is available. We’re working behind the scenes on delivering our ambition of best-in-class cosmetics & narrative.
- Once CO’s have set their basic badge and chosen a kit, they will be able to dip into the transfer market and assemble their very first squad!
- The first test gameweek will begin with the first available MLS games following clearance from the Play and iOS stores.
- Once we feel confident the game is running smoothly, we will open the MLS Leaderboard and publish a set list of gameweek dates. The more gameweeks we can test the better in this period. We will be awarding cool in-game prizes for good performance in the game but also for community support and great CLUB content. These prizes could well become collectibles in future!
- The MLS test will end towards the end of July (exact date TBC). The app will close, teams and budgets will be reset, MLS players will disappear, and Season Zero will begin in August with the top 5 European Leagues.
How to Play?
- Go to Squad > Transfers and make your selections. You can search by name, or filter by position/role/club.
- Note that in the first test gameweek you will want to pick 11 players not 16, as substitutions are not available yet — we’ll let you know if & when this changes. You will be able to make as many transfers as you like each gameweek for this test.
- Your starting budget is 150m.
- Try picking the players you think are the best in their roles in real life. We want CLUB to be intuitive for all football fans; simply put, if a player has a good game in real life, and most fans would agree, the player should score well in CLUB. E.g a goalkeeper will be rewarded for clean sheets, saves and claiming/securing the ball. But will be punished for conceding goals and making obvious mistakes. A striker will be heavily rewarded for goals but punished if he misses big chances. Exactly as most fans would expect.
- The opening formation is locked to 4–3–3. In future gameweeks you will get more options. You will want to build your initial team that would fit this formation in real life, so make sure you have: GK, x2 CB, LB, RB, DM, x2 CM, LW, RW, ST
- Once you have picked a team that fits the 4–3–3, click the player you want as your captain and set that. Then confirm the team. You are good to go!
- Once the gameweek is underway you should see scores updating in real time on the Live Gameweek screen. We’d love for you to share how your Club is performing, so feel free to use #ClubGame for anything on socials!
Rules
These are all available in-game by simply clicking the ‘?’ button on ‘Match’ and may be updated as new features are added. Notable rules include:
- A captain gives a 50% bonus to a players score
- A player being used outside of his real role (highlighted Amber) will receive a -25% scoring penalty e.g if Harry Maguire were used as a LB rather than as a CB.
- You can currently make unlimited transfers each game week. This will not be the case in future!
- Only 11 players are currently required, as substitutions cannot currently be made.
- There is currently no limit on the number of players you can select from the same team. We may introduce limits in future.
- Currently, if a team plays twice in one gameweek only the score in the first game will count. In future the highest score of the two will count.
- Important intelligence on the arrival time of the capybara mascot is hidden in the game.
So that’s it for now, CO’s. A huge amount of work has gone into getting us to this point in such a short space of time, but we’re committed to delivering an incredible entertainment experience and this is just the beginning. With so much more to come, we’re excited to go on this journey together.
Now…who’s setting an alarm for those MLS Kick-Offs? ⏰
