EA told Mirror Football that FUT players ‘can purchase all in-game items without ever spending money’, in the midst of an ongoing investigation into the ‘Black Market’.
After the statement that was released by EA in the early hours of Saturday morning, in which the company confirmed that it had launched an investigation into the allegations of ‘Black Market’, Mirror Football sent a series of questions to EA on specific details about the investigation and other topics related to the Ultimate Team game mode, which have been answered in full.
In addition to revealing details about the ongoing investigation, EA also commented on possible changes to the Ultimate Team game mode, high-ranking items perceived as impossible to obtain and whether they are aware of the uneven playing field within FIFA Esports.
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FIFA 21’s ‘Black Market’ allegations emerged last week when screenshots circulated on social media that seemed to show that the highly sought after and highly rated FUT Icon Moments and FUT 21 Team of the Year cards were being offered to players in exchange for real life currency.
Following these allegations, EA launched an investigation into EA accounts being used by someone within EA, and whether they are being used to award highly rated FUT items to individual accounts that did not earn them during the game. These claims were called ‘Black Market’ or ‘Icon Gate’ on social media.
After the statement was released, Mirror Football sent a series of questions to EA about specific details about the investigation. EA responded to Mirror Football’s questions in full with some exclusive comments, which can be viewed in full below.
When was the first time you were informed about the alleged transactions?
(Image: EA SPORTS FIFA)
“We were informed of suspicious activity related to high-rated content on the FUT by the FIFA community at the beginning of last week,” an EA spokesman told Mirror Football.
What steps are being taken to identify the full story of what is happening?
“We launched a rigorous internal investigation.
What is the latest news regarding the ongoing investigation?
“Our initial investigation shows questionable activity involving a very small number of accounts and items. Although not a large number, if these claims are proven, this activity is unacceptable.
Will EA provide full transparency to the community regarding the results of the investigation?
“We highly value and appreciate the commitment and support of the FIFA community to help identify this issue and provide a transparent update on our initial findings through our 12 release notes. º March.
“We will continue to provide updates to our community as we get more details.
Is it really technically possible to manually add items from Icon Moments to player accounts? And if so, why is this possible?
“There are some scenarios in which we grant content that has not been earned or acquired through the game. Details about the grant can be found in the Suggestion Notes.
“The sum of items awarded through these three combined scenarios is less than 0.0006% of the player’s total items in the FIFA 21 ecosystem.
“These concessions have no impact on the chances that any participant in the ecosystem will acquire these players – they do not affect the overall volume of content available and all content awarded is not marketable.
Can you track how many items from a specific player were distributed in the game, for example, Player Icon Moments?
(Image: EA SPORTS FIFA)
“Yes, we can track that level of information.
What will you do to prevent this from happening again?
“We have suspended all granting of discretionary content for an indefinite period and will provide more information on the next steps as soon as the investigation is completed.
Will this episode lead EA to take a detailed look at Ultimate Team as a general game mode, to see how it could be improved in FIFA 22 and beyond?
For example, could the player’s distribution of extremely rare items be improved, so that more players have a chance to obtain rare items that are currently seen by many as unreachable?
“We are always reviewing feedback from our player community and taking steps to improve and evolve the game.
Some professional FIFA players have said that they need to spend several thousand pounds when the latest FIFA game title is released in order to be competitive during qualifiers and in preparation for major events at the beginning of a competitive cycle, which in the view of some it is creating an uneven playing field for the professional community.
Because, while official FIFA Esports events allow access to a wide range of FUT items for all competing players, qualifying rounds do not, so it can favor those with the best teams spending the most money.
Are you aware of this? And are you looking for ways in which FIFA’s professional setting can be a more equal playing field for all competitors in future games?
“FIFA Ultimate Team is a multi-faceted game of skill. It is important to note that you can purchase all items in the game without ever spending money, and purchases are completely optional.
“Any competitive professional player needs to demonstrate the skills of the meta-game to be considered proficient enough to compete at the Elite level, which includes negotiation, monitoring the economy, squad rotation and completing challenges.
“While the goal is to win matches, FUT is not just about playing simulated football in the stadium, just as football is not just about game day performance – there are many areas where players need to be better than their teammates to create an advantage in the field.
“Progression is a prerequisite if you are going to be a professional player in any sport and eSports are no different.”
EA first released a statement on this subject in the early hours of Saturday, March 13, confirming that they launched a rigorous investigation, also confirming their suspicions about what exactly is going on.
“Earlier this week, we were informed of suspicious activity related to high-rated content on FIFA Ultimate Team”,Read the statement on the EA website.
“We learned that FUT items were awarded to individual accounts that did not earn them through the game – that is, opening a package, buying on the transfer market, completing a reward challenge (e.g., a SBC conclusion) or other commitment ( for example, watching a Twitch broadcast)
“It appears that one or more EA accounts, which have been compromised or used inappropriately by someone from EA, have entitled items directly to those individual accounts.
“The alleged behavior is unacceptable and in no way do we tolerate the granting or purchase of items from players in exchange for money. This practice goes against the competitive integrity of the game, is a violation of the EA User Agreement and is not something we tolerate. not allowing the exchange or sale of items outside of our game for many reasons, including the fact that this would create an uneven playing field for our community. “
EA also confirmed that it has suspended all concession of discretionary content for an indefinite period.
* FIFA 21 is now available for Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC. The next generation version of FIFA 21 is also available now on Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S and PlayStation 5.
Fans entering FIFA 21 can also benefit from Dual Entitlement, allowing them to update their copy of the game from PlayStation 4 to PlayStation 5 or from Xbox One to Xbox Series X / S at no extra cost.
To upgrade your current generation version of FIFA 21 to the next generation version of FIFA 21 (along with the current generation version) on your PS5, Xbox Series X or Xbox Series S, you must log in to your next generation console with the platform account associated with your copy of FIFA 21 for Xbox One or PS4, and you can access FIFA 21 next gen through your game library.