EA says its investigating claims employee sold rare items in FIFA 21
EA (Electronic Arts) has been known for developing games such as FIFA, Madden NFL, Titanfall, and Battlefield for play on videogame consoles such as Sony Play station or Microsoft Xbox. The Company has been impacted by several secular shifts within the industry that are driven by digital. The two most significant transformations are (1) the shift from physical disks to digital delivery and (2) the shift from PC and console-based games to mobile and augmented reality.
Accusations at EA
Recently, EA has been under internal company investigations after allegations were made in forums and on social networks that they would be selling, out of authorized means, rare cards in the “Ultimate Team” mode of game FIFA 21. Using the hashtag #EAGATE, complaints have been made that someone within EA has been selling FIFA’s Prime Icon Moment players at an expensive rate. “We want to be clear — this type of behavior is unacceptable, and we in no way condone what is alleged to have happened here. We understand how this creates concern about unfair balance in the game and competition.”- were the words said by EA authorities.
Ultimate Team is a game mode within “FIFA 21” where players buy virtual card packs featuring soccer stars from the past and present to assemble their own fantasy team. Players can buy card packs using in-game currency, which they can increase by spending real money. Each packet of cards has a specific price – but as far as who gets out of the packet, the process is completely randomized Cards like Prime Icon Moments are rare, which means players can spend lots of money acquiring packs to obtain them.
According to several posts made by community members, the items have been sold at prices that were over the odds. There is still no confirmation that the people involved in the scheme are in fact EA employees, but in a statement posted on Twitter, the company said it was aware of the information that has been circulating in the media and assured fans that “a thorough investigation it’s in progress”. The card-based modes have proven very profitable for the publishers. There are people who take FIFA way too seriously and would be ready to
