Dutch Games Industry
About the Game
Match of the Week (often abbreviated as MotW) was a short-form football simulation game developed by Gamebasics, running roughly from 2005 to 2009.
While Online Soccer Manager (OSM) focused on managing a team over an entire season, Match of the Week was designed for a "quick fix" of football management.
Instead of a long campaign, you managed a team for just one specific match, usually the biggest real-life match of the upcoming weekend (e.g., De Klassieker between Ajax and Feyenoord). You would set your tactics, line-up, and specialized instructions for that single game. Once the "Match of the Week" was simulated, you immediately saw the result and where you ranked against thousands of other managers who played the same match.
The game was famous for its giveaway culture. Unlike OSM, which was about long-term prestige, MotW was heavily marketed as a way to win physical prizes like consoles (Xbox, Nintendo Switch), electronics, or smaller gadgets (pens, markers, stickers) by finishing at the top of the weekly leaderboard.
It was often bundled or integrated with other Gamebasics products, such as Poule & Play, where it served as the "Play" component (allowing users to actually "play" the match they had just predicted in the pool).
MotW was retired in 2009.
While Online Soccer Manager (OSM) focused on managing a team over an entire season, Match of the Week was designed for a "quick fix" of football management.
Instead of a long campaign, you managed a team for just one specific match, usually the biggest real-life match of the upcoming weekend (e.g., De Klassieker between Ajax and Feyenoord). You would set your tactics, line-up, and specialized instructions for that single game. Once the "Match of the Week" was simulated, you immediately saw the result and where you ranked against thousands of other managers who played the same match.
The game was famous for its giveaway culture. Unlike OSM, which was about long-term prestige, MotW was heavily marketed as a way to win physical prizes like consoles (Xbox, Nintendo Switch), electronics, or smaller gadgets (pens, markers, stickers) by finishing at the top of the weekly leaderboard.
It was often bundled or integrated with other Gamebasics products, such as Poule & Play, where it served as the "Play" component (allowing users to actually "play" the match they had just predicted in the pool).
MotW was retired in 2009.