
“We are very happy to welcome Strikerz Inc. as a partner in the area of games development,” said Florian Dederichs, head of sponsorship, internationalisation & eSports at Bayer 04.
The contract between Bayer 04 and Strikerz Inc. includes a license agreement on the use of image and video material.
“We are happy to welcome Bayer 04 into the UFL family,” said Eugene Nashilov, CEO at Strikerz Inc., after signing the deal. “The history of Bayer 04 Leverkusen shows you should never give up while there’s still a chance.”
Over the last year, Strikerz Inc. have announced partnerships with West Ham United, Borussia Mönchengladbach, AS Monaco and Besiktas plus license agreements with Sporting CP and Shakhtar Donetsk.
Profile of Strikerz Inc.:
Strikerz Inc. is a collective of video game developers and an international gaming brand founded in 2016. The company employs over 200 people in Europe. Strikerz Inc. is the driving force behind the free UFL virtual football game. The online game is designed to be a fair-to-play experience with zero pay-to-win options.
Photo: Florian Dederichs (l., head of sponsorship, internationalisation & eSports at Bayer 04) and Eugene Nashilov (CEO Strikerz Inc.).

In their third friendly of this pre-season, Bayer 04 played on home soil for the first time – and won there too! The Werkself claimed a comfortable 4-0 victory against Belgian top-flight side KRC Genk at the Ulrich-Haberland-Stadion. Jeanuel Belocian (9’) and Nathan Tella (42’) gave a dominant Leverkusen a 2-0 lead at the break, which Afonso Moreira (51’) and Christian Kofane (53’) doubled after the break. Among the many second-half substitutions was Patrik Schick, who made his first friendly appearance of the summer.
Show more
The Werkself are finally back. On Saturday 8 August, Bayer 04 kick off the 2026/27 campaign with their opening match. But there’s far more than just a double-header in store for Werkself supporters. True to the motto ‘One day. Two teams. One club’, the BayArena and the Ulrich Haberland Stadium will be transformed into a world of excitement.
Show more
The Werkself continue their 2026/27 pre-season preparations with their third friendly against Belgian top-flight side KRC Genk at the Ulrich-Haberland-Stadion on Wednesday 29 July (kick-off 15:00 CEST). Werkself-TV is broadcasting the match live and in full in a stream from 14:50 CEST...

After the children from the Bayer 04 Football Academy grilled Janis Blaswich and Simeon Rapsch last week, another group of 20 young Werkself fans gathered at the BayArena press conference room on Tuesday afternoon, 28 July . This time, the kids directed their questions at Tim Oermann and Jonah Berghoff. Defender Oermann raved about his school days, whilst talented midfielder Berghoff revealed to the young footballers, amongst other things, who his favourite player is – and he is also at Bayer 04. To round things off, the pair naturally obliged with all requests for autographs and selfies.
Show more
Bayer 04 are back on the pitch. Following the first training sessions, the Werkself play the first pre-season friendly on Saturday, July 18. The match against Oberliga club Sportfreunde Baumberg kicks off at 15:30 CEST in Monheim am Rhein. Fans unable to attend the match can watch head coach Carles Martínez’s first game in charge for free via a livestream at bayer04.de and on the Bayer 04 app, as well as on Werkself.tv (exclusively for members). Just log on and watch the games live. All the other Werkself preseason friendlies leading up to the 2026/27 season will also be streamed live for free.
Show more