Messi-Gate was yesterday: EA SPORTS’ first FUT blunder of the new year has given many players Erling Haaland’s winter wildcard item. Can the profiteers be doubly pleased?
Shortly after 7 p.m. on Friday evening, there was an increase in social media reports from FUT fans who had unexpectedly received Erling Haaland as a winter wildcard. This was apparently made possible by an error in the rewards for a weekly season task. The Norwegian was drawn disproportionately often from the reward packs. An alleged glitch – not for the first time.
Messi-Gate in February 2024, the TOTS scandal surrounding Mbappé & Co. in May 2024 and – just a few weeks ago – the suspicion surrounding “Successor” Ronaldinho. The latter case has not been officially confirmed by EA SPORTS. The developer has a history of incorrect pack ratings for top cards.
Haaland has an overall rating of 94. His base values of shooting (95), pace and physicality (both 91) are strong, while his attributes of finishing, positional play (both 99), reaction (98), shooting power and sprint speed (both 97) are outstanding. Added to this are two PlayStyles+: “Frenzy” and “Composure”. A strong item that is currently listed by FUTBIN with a market value of 1.17 million coins.
Does EA SPORTS compensate? If so, who?
Whoever drew the Winter Wildcard item between 7 p.m. and the fix from EA SPORTS about three hours later was happy about the mistake. The rest of the FUT players were frustrated about the missed opportunity. This was followed shortly afterwards by anger at the developer.
Because EA SPORTS admitted the faux pas at 9:08 p.m. via X. This included the announcement that “affected players will be notified in-game in the coming days.” This is a phrase that is usually used when compensation follows an Ultimate Team error.
What irritated some in the community: Is EA SPORTS actually compensating? If so, who? Giving another pack to players who got the strong Haaland card thanks to the glitch doesn’t seem logical to most followers. And in view of the X comments, it would lead to fan rage.
However, it is much less likely that EA SPORTS will also give the Winter Wildcard to all non-profiteers in the FUT club. The developer had never done this in comparable cases in the past. In general, we only just realized in our revisited test of FC 25 that there is hardly anything for free – unless the creators make a mistake again.
