Lego mini-figure seemingly confirms 2K Sports football game

A Lego footballer minifig in 2K-branded packaging has been spotted, seemingly corroborating VGC’s exclusive report from earlier this year.

In February we reported that Lego is partnering with 2K for a new line of Lego sports games, starting with a football/soccer game developed by Sumo Digital.

Now a new minifigure spotted on Lego’s certification page by 1414falconfan appears to indicate that the game is indeed still in the works.

The packaging shows the character, named Finnius Dash, standing on a football pitch wearing a purple shark head mask and what appears to be a Barcelona shirt.

Crucially, the packaging also says Lego Games at the top and features the 2K logo in the bottom corner, suggesting a game connection.

Since Finnius Dash is not a known character in any existing 2K game, he will likely appear in the 2K Lego football game VGC reported on earlier this year.

The figure may not necessarily suggest that the game will have an accompanying toy line – it may be a promotional figure made to be given away at events (perhaps even The Game Awards) rather than something designed to be sold to the public.

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In February we exclusively reported that 2K had signed a new multi-game partnership with Lego, according to sources with knowledge of its plans.

The Sumo Digital developed football game will be followed by an open-world Lego racing game currently in development at WWE 2K22 studio Visual Concepts, we were told.

This is the same title mentioned in job listings at the start of 2022 as an “open world driving game with a major license”.

At the time we were told that the football game would be releasing in late 2022 to coincide with the FIFA World Cup, followed by the racing game in 2023.

A third Lego sports title is also in development, based on a major sports franchise, sources said.

Neither 2K nor Sumo Digital responded to requests for comment ahead of our original story in February, and a spokesperson for Lego told VGC: “We do not comment on speculation about future products or partnerships.”

Further reading

Exclusive: 2K has secured the Lego licence for a range of sports games

Visual Concepts and UK-based Sumo Digital are working on the first games in a new partnership

The 2K deal represents a new era for Lego games following a previous exclusivity deal with Warner’s TT Games. Since 2005, Lego’s console games based on licensed properties such as Star Wars, Marvel and Harry Potter, have virtually all been developed by the UK studio.

TT Games also worked on original Lego games such as Lego City Undercover, Bionicle Heroes and the toys-to-life title Lego Dimensions, and had the ability to veto deals with other game developers proposing console titles, according to people with knowledge of its arrangement.

However, sources told VGC earlier this year that Lego did not intend to extend the terms of its exclusivity deal with TT Games, hence the 2K deal.

This doesn’t mean TT will no longer be making Lego games at all – indeed, job listings spotted earlier this year showed that Warner was hiring for new staff to work on “an exciting new Lego game based on a major IP”.

Its decision not to extend its exclusivity agreement with Warner is thought to have been partly influenced by decreasing sales of its Lego titles, as younger audiences flock to social games such as Roblox and Fortnite.

In recent years Lego also switched its movie deal from Warner to Universal, removing some synergy between the two companies, though it continues to license many of Warner’s properties including DC and Harry Potter.