With just one day to go until Nexon's mega-sized soccer match "2025 Icon Match: Return of creativity, beginning of the counterattack" (hereinafter 2025 Icon Match), expectations are rising among soccer fans worldwide. This year, the event gains added weight with the participation of newly joined star players such as Bale, Gerrard, and Casillas, and a tactical showdown between master managers Arsene Wenger and Rafael Benitez. A game company like Nexon recruits legendary soccer players and stages a soccer match to bring in-game experiences into the real world to boost user loyalty and draw soccer fans into the game.
According to the gaming industry on the 12th, 2025 Icon Match, hosted by Nexon Korea, will take place from the 13th to the 14th at Seoul World Cup Stadium in Sangam. On the first day, an event match will feature mini-games such as a curve challenge, and the second day will host the main match. The main match, under the concept of "a battle of spear and shield," will be contested between the attack team FC Spear, which turned fans' imaginations into reality, and the defense team Shield United.
This year, in addition to the legendary soccer players who took part last year, more famous players joined to strengthen strategy. FC Spear, which lost last year, has significantly bolstered its lineup to win this year. The team reinforced its attack by signing Wales winger Gareth Bale, a representative speed dribbler. They also added Steven Gerrard, the legendary captain of England's Liverpool FC, and Germany's all-around midfielder Schweinsteiger.
Shield United is also adding signings as it aims for back-to-back Icon Match victories. By bringing in top-class fullbacks such as Brazil's Maicon and England's Ashley Cole, the team reinforced its defensive midfield with Italy's Juventus stalwart Claudio Marchisio and Brazil's Gilberto Silva. In addition, Alessandro Nesta and Sol Campbell joined last year's Ferdinand-Vidic line, making the formation even more solid. Alongside them, legendary players such as Didier Drogba, Robert Pires, Thierry Henry, Wayne Rooney, Clarence Seedorf, and Park Ji-sung will take the field in the 2025 Icon Match.
2025 Icon Match drew explosive interest from fans as soon as ticketing opened. The 20,000 seats for the presale on Aug. 21 sold out in 10 minutes. The 40,000 general sale seats on the 22nd also sold out in 20 minutes. As competition for tickets intensified, posts seeking scalped tickets at a premium began appearing on resale platforms. Last year's Icon Match drew nearly 3.6 million online viewers, and the industry is watching to see whether this year's online audience will surpass that.
So why is Nexon inviting legendary soccer players to stage a match? The aim is to increase offline touchpoints between the game's intellectual property (IP) and users. Nexon operates the soccer game FC Online. To commemorate the Icon Match, FC Online released a player pack called the "2025 Icon Match Class." The 2025 Icon Match Class enhances the play experience by recreating, through detailed attributes, the dazzling prime years of legendary players that stir soccer fans' nostalgia. Users can build squads with legendary players in the game and enjoy matches of their own. In particular, because player pack attributes will change based on the Icon Match results, game users are paying even closer attention to the Icon Match.
There is also the goal of promoting the game by recruiting legendary players who could previously be seen only in the game. By holding an event themed around soccer, which shares a fan base, the company can attract soccer fans as new users. This is also effective for reshaping the game's image. Given the nature of gaming—often enjoyed alone on a PC or smartphone—the medium is widely seen as confined online, but the aim is to establish it as cultural content enjoyed with friends and family.
A Nexon official said, "Behind Nexon's planning of this mega-sized soccer event lies the deep love of soccer shown by FC Online and FC Mobile users," and added, "We will build an ecosystem of shared growth by creating a festival where soccer fans can mingle together beyond the boundaries of games and sports."