The Blacki Cup is an institution in the eSports scene of FIFA respectively FC 24, but for organizer Maurice Aliu the new guidelines on community tournaments are a blow. Is an era coming to an end?
For about four years Maurice Aliu has been hosting the Blacki Cups – first in FIFA, now in FC 24. However, the future of community tournaments of this kind seems to be in the balance. EA SPORTS recently published the new version of the guidelines for just such events. And these make it impossible for Aliu to continue his Blacki Cups as before.
While the prize money to be awarded was still regulated per tournament by the developer in FIFA 23 (maximum 2,500 US dollars), a pool for the entire season is now provided. This amounts to 10,000 US dollars. Aliu has already organized six Blacki Cups in FC 24. According to the winner announcements on X (formerly Twitter), the cumulative prize money so far amounts to 5,100 euros. Accordingly, under the new rules, Aliu has already paid out more than half of his allowed bonuses.
Aliu was “annoyed” but “doesn’t want to follow up “
Whether the rule “takes effect from release or just now”, Aliu did not know in conversation with eSport itself. However, he said that “to be on the safe side,” he assumes that only about half remains. The content creator had expressed his “sadness and anger” on X on Monday, saying, “They [EA SPORTS, editor’s note] are not only taking away the qualifiers from the pros, but also the opportunity to play in daily cups.”
He was more mild-mannered toward eSport the following day. “I was a little too emotional yesterday, it really pissed me off. I know that I owe a lot to EA over all these years in the end. And that’s why I don’t want to go after them,” he says. Ultimately, it’s the developer who decides, and “I have to accept that. The consequence: “There won’t be as many Blacki Cups anymore.” However, he does not want to discontinue his competition series altogether.
No wonder, after all, Aliu’s original X entry was very well received in the community. It received more than 100 reposts and has been seen by over 400,000 users so far – far above the usual average on his account. Italian eSportsman Raffaele ‘Er_Caccia98’ Cacciapuoti even tagged his repost with freeblackicup and crying emojis.
We’ve already talked to Aliu about his Blacki Cups in 2021. How they came about, what the enthusiast wants to achieve, and what the scene was like back then, you can read here.
