Ronaldo's investment in UFL follows Messi's affiliation with eFootball as its ambassador this November       Former Paris Saint-Germain's Argentine forward Lionel Messi (left) walks past Riyadh All-Stars Portuguese forward Cristiano Ronaldo during the Riyadh Season Cup football match between the Riyadh All-Stars and Paris Saint-Germain at the King Fahd Stadium in Riyadh on January 19, 2023. — AFP

After years of on-the-field rivalry, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are set to compete each other in the virtual world as the Portuguese star Tuesday invested $40 million in the UFL, a football video game set to rival eFootball, which signed the Argentine striker as its ambassador last month.

The game, which is still under development, promises a "fair, skill-first approach for gamers created by gamers” and holds the potential to become a major player in video gaming as it will have free access and will be free of any mandatory payments or subscription fees, goal.com reported.

Expressing his views Ronaldo, who will be part of the game development, said that the platform might "become the new breed in football gaming".

With his latest investment, the Al Nassr star is also set to take on EA Sports FC, who is another key player in the global video game market.

So far, no specific date has been announced regarding the release of the game, which is expected to be launched on PlayStation and Xbox in the near future.

It is not new for video game franchises to attach prominent players' names to their brands in some form as last month, Messi also signed with eFootball 2024 as the game's ambassador.