In Brief:
- Animoca Brands (official site) and Amazon Web Services launched the Agentic Football Cup – Virtual League, allowing players to coach AI footballers.
- The competition is browser-based, free, and requires no coding, with players building and managing teams of AI agents.
- Up to 12,000 teams can participate, competing for a $50,000 prize pool, with finalists attending AWS re:Invent in Las Vegas.
Agentic Football Cup debuts with AI coaching
Animoca Brands has partnered with Amazon Web Services to introduce the Agentic Football Cup – Virtual League, a seven-week competition starting September 11. Players will coach autonomous AI footballers using natural language, offering a unique approach to both gaming and AI interaction.
Entrants create five AI agents: one goalkeeper and four outfield players. Each must be assigned a playbook detailing its role and specific behaviors. Coaches can instruct a defender to mark tightly or direct a midfielder to push forward and quickly recover. During practice matches, these commands can be adjusted based on how the AI responds.
Real-time interactions occur during matches, allowing managers to send strategic messages like “press higher.” However, agents aren’t required to follow every instruction if it’s not contextually relevant.
The underlying mechanics are structured; every two seconds, the simulation updates players on the match state. Each agent is given one second to decide on a structured action like passing, shooting, or marking. An agent that fails to respond in time remains idle.
Participants will also have an Assistant Coach Mind—an AI that tracks the team’s progress, provides match analysis, and recommends adjustments. This feature reflects Animoca’s vision of personal AI assistants functioning over longer time periods.
The competition accommodates up to 12,000 teams in six leagues, each playing ten automated matches weekly. At the end of the seven weeks, champions and wildcard winners will receive a trip to AWS re:Invent in Las Vegas, competing for top prizes of $30,000, $15,000, and $5,000. The total prize pool for the event amounts to $50,000 and is part of the AWS Grand Finale.
“Agentic Football Cup promises to redefine how players interact with AI in a competitive setting,” said a spokesperson for Animoca Brands.
