EA SPORTS has allowed itself the next scandalous mishap and once again massively favored parts of the FC 24 community. The outrage over the Ligue 1 faux pas is correspondingly great
For the time being, France superstar Kylian Mbappé is on FC 24’s Ligue 1 Team of the Season (TOTS) for the last time. The pacy attacker, whose departure from PSG next summer had long been the subject of speculation, recently made it official that he would be leaving the French capital at the end of the season.
Top TOTS are becoming a standard commodity
While Mbappé will bid a dignified farewell in real life after winning the league and setting a personal record by winning the cup and the double, EA SPORTS has initially removed any positive connotations from his virtual image. An error in the FUT Champions Rewards resulted in the extremely rare card being handed out as a reward to players in batches
The same applied to the equally expensive and highly rated items from Ousmane Dembelé and Warren Zaire-Emery, as well as the somewhat less sought-after TOTS item Jonathan Davids. These three seemed virtually guaranteed in the rewards on Friday, according to social media posts
EA reacts and reaps huge shitstorm
EA SPORTS responded tersely to the incident on Saturday night. The official ‘FC Direct Communication’ account on X announced at around four o’clock German time: “We have identified an issue where the Champions player polls were returning unintended results. This has been corrected in-game” – which was followed by a shitstorm.
Once again, the majority of players felt ripped off and massively disadvantaged by EA SPORTS. Because only the fastest FUT players who completed the competition, which starts on Fridays, as early as possible benefited from the disproportionately good rewards. Meanwhile, those who finished the “Weekend League” after the EA SPORTS X-Account was announced had to make do with mostly second- to third-rate player selections
Frustrated by the extreme inequality, some players vented their outrage under the EA post. The 3.2 million followers strong account ‘HYPEX’, for example, called EA SPORTS the “slowest and dumbest company that has ever existed”. The YouTuber received somewhat more diplomatic, but no less critical encouragement from content creator Craig ‘NepentheZ’ Douglas: “You’ve got to be joking. Leave it as it was, everyone was happy. It’s really insane that you “intend” to screw players for playing your competitive game mode. “
In a video on the subject, Douglas reiterated his words. “I can’t believe it. That’s what it was always supposed to be,” he commented on some of the massively toned down player choices, elaborating, “I hate EA’s wording. They provided “unintended” results by rewarding players for playing their competitive mode. It was unintentional that you get good players, which means you are being intentionally screwed by this company for playing their game and spending your money in it.”
As an outsider, the Englishman’s accusations cannot be substantiated. However, it is clear that EA SPORTS has repeatedly cut a disastrous figure. Not only because of the actual mistake, but also because of the reaction to it. Instead of giving all players the same positively biased opportunities and thus ensuring fairness, the developer and publisher has once again decided to favor a minority
An approach that EA SPORTS has already adopted on several occasions. At the start of the year, for example, a faulty upgrade SBC issued Lionel Messi’s TOTY variant excessively often. While the lucky players were understandably allowed to keep their Messi items, the developer promptly adjusted the probabilities and drastically lowered them for all other players.
In FIFA 23, meanwhile, a Hero Pack had crept into the in-game store, which some early birds used to line their pockets. Those who arrived late, on the other hand, had to live without the bonus. Compensation? Not a chance. And so, with regard to the “Messi Gate” 2.0 around Mbappé and colleagues, there is also no compensation in sight for the mass of players who missed out on the faulty rewards
The community gets what it deserves
But why should it be any different? Despite negative trends in recent months, EA’s latest annual report shows an increase of two percent in net revenue compared to the previous year – mainly thanks to spending by players in Ultimate Team and co. The company’s questionable strategies, as “disgusting” as parts of the EAFC community find them, are therefore working – despite falling player numbers. The gaming giant can clearly afford to make mistake after mistake and not sufficiently tackle problems that have been criticized for years, such as the regularly inadequate servers.
As disastrous as the image that EA SPORTS has repeatedly presented, not just in this case but for years, it is also true that the community that has rallied around EA’s soccer simulation simply deserves no less.
