FIFA is currently involved in one of the biggest scandals of all time, after an EA employee was accused of selling the coveted Ultimate Team cards for thousands of pounds.
The unconfirmed direct messages appear to show a company employee selling icon cards in packages priced at 750-1000 euros. In a WhatsApp message, three Prime Icon Moments cards are offered for 1700 euros.
Special thanks to @RiberaRibell for the photo, he did an amazing job ??
(continued in comments)#fut #fifa pic.twitter.com/bJIg2rpWtI– Arcade-Fut (@FutArcade) March 10, 2021
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– Arcade-Fut (@FutArcade) March 10, 2021
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So, we crush / exchange / open packages and we can’t touch these PIM players, but EA employees sell them to people secretly for 700?!?! Lol I respect the grind but my god … pic.twitter.com/CCnhjZbcgH
– User ?? (@ Nick28T) March 10, 2021
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Video proof?!? I mean, could this be just an EA Dev or a real employee? Who knows more. These are all allegations, let’s just wait for EA to make a statement about it and be honest with us. # FUT21 # FIFA21 pic.twitter.com/lzqGMDE5S3
– User ?? (@ Nick28T) March 10, 2021
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Icon cards are among the most sought after in FIFA Ultimate Team. They include legendary players such as Brazilian Ronaldo, Pele, Zinedine Zidane and Ruud Gullit, and are almost impossible to obtain through the mode’s controversial loot boxes.
Even rarer are Prime Icon Moments – special versions of icon cards that mark a special game or tournament for players.
Players are known to have spent thousands of pounds on packages to obtain these super rare icon cards. EA has been criticized for not disclosing the exact probability when the chance of getting a card of a certain quality is less than one percent, as is the case with icon cards.
FIFA Ultimate Team has always had a black market for buying and selling FUT coins, which can be used to buy icons in the game’s auction house when they become available. But this is the first time that we have seen a claim that players were able to buy cards directly with cash.
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With “EAGate” now up on Twitter, FUT players are saying that, if true, the ability to buy powerful cards directly and use them in mode devalues the effort and money spent by legitimate fans in the search for an Ultimate Team, and it ruins the balance of the game and its economy.
EA responded to the allegations to say that it launched an investigation.
“We understand how it creates concern about the unfair balance in the game and the competition,” said EA.
– EA SPORTS FIFA (@EASPORTSFIFA) March 10, 2021
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