Women's football is set to be introduced for the first time in the popular video game Football Manager, the game's makers confirmed Thursday.
Football Manager's studio director Miles Jacobson said in a statement that they had been working on women's football "for some time" & that it would be integrated into the sport, rather than creating a separate game.
Soccer Manager is a management simulation game, originally released in 1992 as Championship Manager.
"We believe in equality for all & we want to be part of the solution," Jacobson said in a statement.
"We want to be part of the process that puts women's football on par with the men's game.
“We know we are not alone in this – the landmark TV deal that Sky & the BBC recently agreed with the WSL in England is proof of this – but we are working hard to get women’s football where we are. We intend to do everything where it deserves to be.
"We know our voice is very powerful & we want to use it for good.
"In the long run, as the women's sport grows in popularity, the financial rewards may come, but for the time being we are embarking on this journey because we know it is the right thing to do."
Jacobson said bringing women's football into the sport would be a "multi-year project" with no fixed date for when the women's teams would make their debut.
Chelsea boss Emma Hayes has praised the football manager for his decision to integrate women's teams into the sport.
"It's huge because now we're getting even further into people's homes & it's not just through sports," Hayes told talkSPORT.
"The fact that we're negotiating with people who are sitting until 4 a.m. normalizing household names from the women's game can only be a great thing."