EA has suspended all discretionary content granting indefinitely amid the ongoing “EA Gate” scandal that has rocked the FIFA series.
Earlier this week Eurogamer reported on how the FIFA community had unearthed direct messages that appeared to show an EA employee selling coveted Ultimate Team cards for thousands of pounds on the black market.
These direct messages mentioned FUT Icon cards in packages priced 750-1000 euros. In one WhatsApp message, three Prime Icon Moments cards were offered for 1700 euros.
So we grind/trade/open packs and can’t touch these PIM players but EA employees sell them to people secretly for $1,700?!?! LOL I respect the grind but my god… pic.twitter.com/CCnhjZbcgH
— Nick 🇨🇦 (@Nick28T) March 10, 2021
To see this content please enable targeting cookies.
#EAGATE
A special thanks to @RiberaRibell for the picture , he did an amazing work❤️
(continue in the comments)#fut #fifa pic.twitter.com/bJIg2rpWtI— Arcade-Fut (@FutArcade) March 10, 2021
To see this content please enable targeting cookies.
pic.twitter.com/DRsEAtAiqL
— Arcade-Fut (@FutArcade) March 10, 2021
To see this content please enable targeting cookies.
Icon cards are among the most sought after in FIFA Ultimate Team. They include legendary players such as Brazilian Ronaldo, Pele, Ronaldinho, Zinedine Zidane and Ruud Gullit, and are near impossible to obtain through the mode’s controversial loot boxes.
Even rarer are Prime Icon Moments – special versions of Icon cards that mark one game or tournament that was special for the players.
EA insisted its initial investigation has shown questionable activity involving “a very small number of accounts and items”, but despite this, called the alleged activity “unacceptable”.
EA then vowed to take action against any employee found to have been engaging in this activity, to remove any items granted from the FUT ecosystem, and permanently ban any player known to have bought them.
EA then apologised to the FIFA community: “Regardless of these actions, we appreciate how concerning this is to all of our players, and we apologise for the impact of these improper grants within the community.
“We also appreciate how extremely annoying and frustrating it is that this practice might have come from within EA. We’re angry too. We know that the trust of our communities is hard-earned, and is based on principles of Fair Play. This illicit activity shakes that trust. We’ve also been clear since the creation of Ultimate Team that items cannot be exchanged outside our game, and that’s key to how we keep our game safe from manipulation and bad actors. This is a breach of that principle, as well – and we won’t let it stand.”