Lineup Games

Lineup Games is a Web3 sports gaming company that builds competitive mobile titles and blockchain-integrated mini-games designed for mainstream audiences. Originally founded in 2021 under the name UNKJD, the company rebranded in May 2025 to reflect a strategic expansion beyond a single game into a full multi-platform, multi-chain ecosystem. Its games run on Solana and Base, with ongoing integrations into TON (Telegram's blockchain), Kaia (LINE's blockchain), and Sui.

Core Products

Striker League is the studio's flagship title and the centerpiece of its ecosystem. The game is a 6v6 mobile soccer experience positioned as the first title in a genre the company calls SoBA — Sports Online Battle Arena. Previously marketed as UNKJD Soccer, Striker League launched in Canada in March 2025 before rolling out globally to iOS and Android. The game blends pick-up-and-play sports mechanics with competitive team formats, aiming to deliver an experience that works for both casual players and dedicated esports-style competitors.

Gold Striker is a lighter-weight mini-game designed for SuperApp environments. It launched on Telegram and LINE platforms, giving Lineup Games a distribution layer that, on paper, reaches over a billion monthly active users combined. The intent is to use Gold Striker as a top-of-funnel entry point — easy to start, frictionless to access — that draws players into the broader ecosystem and toward the higher-engagement Striker League product.

Blockchain and Token Architecture

Lineup Games began on Solana, where it launched the $MBS token as the in-game currency for the UNKJD Soccer / Striker League ecosystem. $MBS is also deployed on Base. In May 2025, the team announced it was retiring earlier plans for a separate $SCORE ecosystem token, instead consolidating around $MBS as the primary token across all games in the UNKJD / Lineup universe.

As part of the 2025 rebrand and multi-chain expansion, the company announced a new ecosystem token — blockchain and ticker not yet disclosed at time of writing — intended to unify utility across all chains and platforms. Existing $MBS holders were announced as eligible for an airdrop of the new token when it launches. The broader direction reflects a shift from Solana-specific architecture toward a chain-agnostic approach, though Solana remains one of the two chains where $MBS currently trades and where the project has its deepest roots.

Platform Strategy

Lineup Games targets distribution through several channels simultaneously. Mobile-native distribution covers iOS and Android via standard app stores. SuperApp distribution runs through Telegram mini-games (accessible to Telegram's ~900 million monthly active users) and LINE mini-games (accessible to LINE's ~200 million users, concentrated in Japan, Taiwan, and Southeast Asia). The company is also pursuing developer tooling — a no-code builder designed to let third-party studios create and publish mini-games within the Lineup ecosystem.

This platform breadth is deliberate. The team has been explicit that reducing dependency on any single distribution channel — crypto-specific or otherwise — is central to its growth strategy. Games are built to function without requiring players to interact with wallets or tokens directly, with blockchain rewards layered on top as optional participation.

Partnerships and Branding

Lineup Games has assembled a set of brand partnerships unusual in scale for a Web3 gaming company at its stage. Confirmed collaborations include Meta, sportswear brand PUMA, Italian soccer club AC Milan, and Argentine footballer Paulo Dybala. These partnerships are positioned primarily as user acquisition assets for bringing non-crypto sports fans into the ecosystem, though specific terms of the deals have not been fully disclosed publicly.

Team and Funding

Leadership at Lineup Games includes veterans from Playtika, Scopely, and NFT brand Azuki. Playtika's catalog includes Slotomania and the World Series of Poker mobile game — both high-scale, revenue-generating titles in the social casino and casual gaming space — giving the founding team direct experience with large player bases and live-service game operations. The company raised $24 million in a Series A equity round.

Solana Ecosystem Fit

Lineup Games entered Solana as UNKJD at a time when Solana was becoming a center of gravity for play-to-earn and gaming token experiments. The $MBS token on Solana served as the economic layer for competitive play, tournament prize pools, and in-game rewards. While the project has since adopted a multi-chain posture, Solana remains one of the live deployment environments for $MBS and the historical home of the project's early community.

The evolution from a single Solana-native game into a cross-chain gaming studio reflects a pattern seen across several Web3 game studios from the 2021-2022 cohort: original token architectures have been revisited, distribution strategies have expanded to include SuperApps and traditional mobile stores, and blockchain affiliation has become one feature among several rather than a defining brand identity. Lineup Games is further along this transition than many peers, with live mobile products, active brand partnerships, and a multi-platform mini-game strategy that does not require players to interact with crypto at the entry level.

Current Status

As of late 2025, Lineup Games is actively publishing content and shipping products. Striker League is live on iOS and Android. Gold Striker is available on Telegram and LINE. The company's blog remained active through at least November 2025. Additional sports titles are in development under the Lineup brand, and a new ecosystem token airdrop for $MBS holders is in the pipeline.