Legioner: The game created by Gal Bartov has become a web hit with millions of visits
The simulator built with artificial intelligence that got sports fans in Israel addicted has reached millions of visits in just a few days. Now, the game's creator Gal Bartov is not planning to stop at all.
The new addiction in the field of sports games: less than a month has passed since 26-year-old product team leader at WSC Sports, Gal Bartov, launched "Legioner" - a simple web game built in just a single week using the artificial intelligence model Claude without writing a single line of code.
What started as a humorous tool experiment inspired by a Colombian game has turned into an unprecedented web phenomenon that completely conquered Twitter (X) and paralyzed half the country, with reports now of more than five million careers opened by hundreds of thousands of Israelis.
The secret of the charm lies in the biting localization for Israeli football, which reminds fans of the sport of the legendary "Manager" game.
"When you localize it for Israel, we have to include the shameful moments of football," Bartov told mako in an interview.
Indeed, alongside accumulating points and abilities, users are required to decide on absurd scenarios from the Premier League: salary delays, questionable nutritional supplements, nightlife, and meetings with colorful agents.
The huge load created unexpected economic challenges for Bartov along the way.
"I am losing a lot of money on this, you can imagine what such traffic and what cloud costs it takes."
However, now the success is also being translated into impressive financial backing as the automotive giant Geely has extended its official sponsorship to the game. This business step ensures the continued operation of the servers and allows the creator to keep his promise to the users - a completely free gaming experience, clean of pop-up and aggressive advertisements.
Furthermore, the craze around the brand continues to develop rapidly. After successfully launching a version dedicated to basketball fans, Bartov recently added intriguing features that made the experience even deeper. Among other things, a "career history" mechanism was added that saves the last 300 games the user opened, alongside a "best team" feature, which allows players to concentrate their peak careers from every position on the field on the way to the ultimate dream lineup.
And now, Bartov is already looking at the next goal. In a tweet on his X account, he revealed on Wednesday that a highly requested option will soon be added to the game - starting a career from the coach's chair. Alongside future plans to break into the international market as well, the small Israeli game proves that an original idea, a pinch of Israeli chutzpah, and advanced technology are all that is needed to create the next hit on the web.
