FIFA 21
Last week, a report about a possible scandal surrounding the soccer game FIFA 21 caused a sensation. Clues appeared under the EAGate banner, suggesting that one or more Electronic Arts employees allegedly sold in-game items to players for real money. There was even talk of buzzers in the four-digit range. A short time later, the publisher spoke up and stated that an investigation into the situation would be initiated immediately. There is now a first status update in this regard.As EA announced on the official website, the investigations have not yet been completed. However, it looks like one or more Electronic Arts accounts could actually be involved in the insider trading scandal. More precisely, it says:
"It looks like one or more EA accounts that have either been compromised or inappropriately used by someone at EA have pushed items directly to these individual accounts. (...) Let's be clear what happens now: When our investigations are complete, we will take action against any employee who was involved in it. Any item granted through this illegal activity will be removed from the FUT economic system and EA will become EA permanently ban any player who has acquired some content in this way. "
Accordingly, Electronic Arts wants to stick to the announced hard line and take correspondingly strict measures if the allegations prove to be true. How long the examinations will take is not yet known.
Source: Electronic Arts
Ongoing FIFA 21 FUT scandal investigation reveals 'one or more EA accounts' involved
Electronic Arts does not yet know if EA accounts were willing or compromised actors in a recent FIFA 21 Ultimate Team scandal in which rare cards were sold to players.
FIFA 21’s Ultimate Team ecosystem is still in disarray following allegations that an EA employee may have been involved in backdoor transactions in which rare Ultimate Team cards were sold directly to players. It was such disarray that Electronic Arts itself stepped up to investigate the matter. That internal investigation is still ongoing, but recently, EA confirmed that at least one company account was used in questionable transactions that may be related to the situation.
EA recently revealed its internal investigation’s initial findings in a FIFA 21 Pitch Notes blog post. According to the post, though the investigation is still ongoing, EA confirmed that it had found “one or more EA accounts” exhibiting unusual activity which it will further delve into as it works to get to the bottom of the recent FIFA 21 FUT card purchase allegations.
“The alleged behavior is unacceptable and in no way do we condone granting or purchasing player items in exchange for money,” the FIFA team wrote. “This practice runs counter to the game's competitive integrity, is a violation of EA’s User Agreement, and is not something we tolerate.”
EA has ceased all discretionary content granting in lieu of initial findings of the ongoing FIFA 21 FUT investigation.The matter in question, dubbed “EAGate” by some of the community, involved supposed transactions in which players made contact with an entity with access to EA accounts and used said access to provide rare FIFA 21 Ultimate Team players cards such as Pele, Ronaldo, and Zinedine Zidane. These cards were placed directly on players accounts for what was shown to be exorbitant backdoor payments nearing value of $2000. EA’s Ultimate Team modes have always been a bit predatory in their design (and FIFA 21 is no different according to our review), but being able to directly purchase high-rarity cards threatens to throw the whole ecosystem out of balance.
Electronic Arts’ initial findings show that there was definitely involvement via the use of an EA account. Whether this was an EA employee or an outside breach remains to be seen, but more than anything, it confirms there’s definitely something fishy going on behind the scenes in regards to FIFA 21 Ultimate Team. Stay tuned as we continue to follow this story for further updates and information.
TJ Denzer is a player with a passion for games that has dominated a lifetime. When he's not handing out beatdowns in the latest fighting games, exploring video game history, or playing through RPGs with his partner, he's searching for new food and drinks in the constant pursuit of good times with good people inside and outside the South Texas area. You can also find him on Twitter @JohnnyChugs.