“Fantapapa”: When the conclave to elect the new pope fascinates gamers
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The game has already attracted nearly 60,000 users, mostly Italians, in one week. While observers around the world are trying to make predictions about the successor to Pope Francis , a community of gamers is participating in the conclave in a fun way , on the online game Fantapapa .
After creating an account, the player is greeted by a message signed by the "Fantapapa Committee," announcing the start date of the conclave, May 7, 2025. The goal is to form a team of eleven cardinals on a green board that clearly resembles a soccer field: from the "captain papabile," the cardinal who, according to the player, would have the best chance of becoming pope, to the one considered "ineligible," in the goalkeeper's seat. The player then makes a series of predictions about the profile of the new pontiff. What name will he choose and what will his first words be? What religious order will he come from? Will he wear glasses? Each winning bet earns points.
"We began developing the game when the Pope was hospitalized in mid-February. At that time, Italians began talking about the conclave, in bars, among friends, and among colleagues. Since Fantasy Football is very popular here, we thought about adapting the format," the site's creator, Pietro Pace, told Libération . The 42-year-old artificial intelligence specialist, who works at Microsoft, partnered with an independent developer and put his game online on April 22, the day after the Pope's death.
By its name and its operation, Fantapapa refers to Fantacalcio , the Italian version of Fantasy football , an online game consisting of forming imaginary teams, which perform more or less according to the real performances of the players in matches - equivalent to the French game Mon petit gazon . This type of video game attracts more and more football fans. The biggest title, Fantasy Premier League - the official game of the English Premier League - officially has more than ten million players.
Fantapapa 's followers, however, aren't necessarily football fans. "They're typically nerds [computer enthusiasts, editor's note] with a passion for history and political intrigue in the Vatican. Most are Italian, but we've also noticed a very active Spanish community on X," describes Pietro Pace.
By compiling tens of thousands of predictions, the game gives an idea of the most "papabile" cardinals , according to Internet users, among the 135 in the running. On Wednesday, Matteo Zuppi (the Archbishop of Bologna) was in the lead, followed by Pietro Parolin (the Secretary of State of the Holy See), Luis Antonio Tagle (the Bishop of Imus, Philippines), and Pierbattista Pizzaballa (the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem). These names also recur in the bookmakers' predictions.
Some cardinals make it onto the podium for more trivial reasons. Philippine Cardinal Jose Advincula, for example, is ranked sixth: first in alphabetical order, he is the default choice for many players. Or Italy's Fabio Baggio, in seventh place despite not being considered by bookmakers… Probably because he shares his name with Italian football legend Roberto Baggio, Pietro Pace explained to AFP.
There's no money at stake in Fantapapa , and there are no rewards for players who correctly predict the name of the new pope. Almost none: the site's creator promises lucky winners nothing less than "eternal glory."
Libération
