PHYGITAL BASKETBALL
Phygital basketball combines a digital basketball game and real basketball in one competition. A match begins with the gaming phase, continues with two-on-two basketball on the court, and the final score combines performance across both parts.
A team must align gaming skills, physical preparation and basketball tactics. The result of the digital phase affects how the match continues, so preparation covers both components and connects them within one shared strategy.
Nitui brings its 3x3 basketball experience into phygital: contact play, quick decision-making, shooting, defence and teamwork in a small space. Alongside that sporting foundation, we are developing the team’s gaming component and bringing together players with different skills within the same programme.
INTERNATIONAL RESULTS
In its first phygital season, Nitui won an international qualifying tournament in Astana and secured a place at Games of the Future. Competing as ZM NITUI, the team combined its basketball experience with a new competitive challenge.
Phygital Contenders in Astana was an international qualifying tournament for Games of the Future. ZM NITUI represented Croatia against teams that were also competing for a place at the final event.
The team completed the tournament unbeaten. In the Super Final, Nitui defeated Minsk 38–27 and secured a place at Games of the Future 2026.
ZM NITUI finished the 2025/2026 regular season ranked second in the world in phygital basketball.
Games of the Future is the world’s largest phygital event, bringing together competitors from different disciplines at the intersection of sport and digital gaming. The 2026 edition lasted 12 days and brought together more than 800 participants from over 50 nationalities. Sixteen teams competed in phygital basketball.
ZM NITUI opened the competition with a 34–17 win over GTB KZ. The elimination game against Minsk finished 31–31, with the outcome decided by free throws.
Nitui did not lose a single game in the physical basketball phase of the competition. The performance showed that we can compete with the very best in the world in that component, while there remains room for further progress in gaming.
PHYGITAL BASKETBALL CROATIA
We want to bring the experience of international competition into the development of phygital basketball in Croatia. We are particularly interested in its potential to connect children and young people with real sporting activity through an interest they already have in gaming.
Digital basketball can be a first encounter with rules, teamwork and competition. Continuing on the court adds movement, ball skills and working together in person. The aim is to spark curiosity and give children an opportunity to discover basketball and then, depending on their interest, continue training regularly.
KK Nitui is already launching the presentation and gradual introduction of its phygital programme in primary schools. Zagreb, as the club’s home city, is the first community in which we are actively developing the programme through initial activities and a pilot implementation.
At the same time, preparations have begun to expand the model to other parts of Croatia. We will use the experience from Zagreb to further shape it, so that the programme can be applied effectively in different school and local contexts.
We deliver and adapt the programme to children’s ages, available space and the capacities of each school, in cooperation with teachers, parents and the local sports community.
Connecting gaming with basketball activity can also engage children who have not yet joined organised training.
A guided activity combines digital gaming, a physical component and social interaction. We want a child’s first encounter with the programme to open the possibility of a lasting interest in sport.
Presentations, demonstration sessions and smaller competitions can connect pupils’ digital interests with activity on the basketball court.
We want children who discover an interest in basketball through phygital to be able to continue through the Basketball School and Youth Teams. For more advanced players, the Nitui Academy offers a direction for further basketball development, while those interested in competitive phygital can develop their role in the team’s digital or physical component.
We are open to conversations with schools, sporting organisations and partners interested in presenting and developing phygital basketball. Cooperation may include space, equipment, professional coaching or the organisation of activities.