Gameloft's Real Football 2013 now available on Google Play for free

Whether you call it soccer or football, the “king of sports” definitely has its fair share of fans among Android users, all of whom would be happy to know that Gameloft’s Real Football (also known as Real Soccer) 2013 is now available as a free download on Google Play.

The new iteration of the RF series has been teased for about two months now, with much of Gameloft’s early marketing efforts focusing on bragging with the game’s new ambassador, two-time Europa League winner Radamel Falcao of Atletico Madrid.

We’ve only seen a gameplay trailer about a week ago, which wasn’t a very good sign, but despite that Real Football 2013 doesn’t look like a half-assed rehash of its predecessor. It’s quite the contrary actually, because Gameloft seems to have finally put some thought behind the graphics, game controls, effects and speed of play.

All of these areas have been heavily updated and improved, and, while Real Football is still not as visually impressive as EA Sports’ FIFA, it looks like it might get there soon. Tweaks have also been made to the management system, which allows you now to start your own club and bring it to fame by yourself, while the “realism has been pushed further” thanks to an official FIFPro license that lets Gameloft use personal names and portraits of over 3,000 real-life top players.

Real Football 2013 is available for all devices running Android 2.3 and up for free. But being a “freemium” title, you will be asked to make certain in-app purchases to help you progress more smoothly. Of course, these are not mandatory, especially if you’re just a casual user not looking for a second career as a virtual football manager, so all in all this looks like a hit. Any soccer — or football — fans out there excited for this game?