In EA FC 24, there was one of the biggest blunders in the history of FIFA/EA FC last night (January 30). For a period of around twenty minutes, the probability of drawing a really strong Team-of-the-Year card (TOTY) was incredibly high. Some beneficiaries were fortunate. Those who missed this unique opportunity are now brutally upset in the fan forums and demand compensation.
What happened? EA Sports released a new Squad Building Challenge (SBC) last night (January 30) at 7:00 PM called 86+-TOTY-Leagues-SBC. In exchange for a team with specific requirements, players received a pack with a triple player selection. The three players came from a randomly chosen TOTY league and had a minimum rating of 86.
What are TOTYs? TOTYs are the strongest cards in the game and remain so for a long time due to their strong upgrades. The regular chance of drawing such a player is extremely low. Many TOTYs are therefore very sought after and expensive.
The Player-Pick-SBC was supposed to offer an increased probability of getting a TOTY since all other rare Gold players under 86 were excluded. However, it was by no means a guarantee for a TOTY, as most leagues have many players with a minimum rating of 86. This is at least true for most leagues, but not for all.
Only a few minutes after the release, all social media forums were flooded with images showing TOTY Messi as one of the 3 players from the player picks. Here is such a post from Donktrading:
Player-Pick-Fail gives players almost free TOTY Messi
Where was the mistake? If you were assigned the American Major Soccer League (MLS) as the league in one of the 3 designated slots, the probability of drawing a TOTY Messi was 100 %. In the MLS, there simply is no other player with a rating above 86.
The only hurdle was ultimately that one of the three available slots had to be occupied by the American men’s league. Based on the many posts featuring TOTY Messi, it is reasonable to assume that the probability of having an MLS slot must have been disproportionately high.
How valuable is TOTY Messi? The Argentine’s card has a rating of 97 and can play nearly any position in attack. It features two very strong playstyles: Technique-Playstyle+ and Decisive-Pass-Playstyle+. A professional recently ranked all playstyles for EA FC 24.
The card also has extremely strong values in Pace (91), Shot (96), Pass (97), and Dribbling (98). Due to his strong stats and playstyles, TOTY Messi has a price of around 9 million coins on the transfer market. Due to the flooding of the market, his value is currently falling a bit but should stabilize around 8.9 million coins.
EA Sports retracts 86+-TOTY-Leagues-SBC
How did EA Sports react? The lucky ones who benefited from the blunder had only a short window of time. About 20 minutes after the release of the player picks, EA removed the pack from the game. In a statement, EA responded:
The statement reads: “We identified a problem with the 86+-TOTY-Leagues-SBC; as a result, we removed the SBC.”
By that time, however, some players had already completed the SBC and drawn TOTY Messi. A large part of the fans who were unable to complete it in time now feel disadvantaged and are demanding compensation from EA.
Fans express anger and disappointment, demanding TOTY Messi for all
How does the community react? The ‘Messi glitch’ dominates the scene in the internet forums regarding EA FC 24. On reddit.com, there are numerous subreddits on this topic.
Most fans are primarily disappointed and angry that EA could make such outrageous mistakes. Subreddits like “I think I’m really done with this game” (via reddit.com) or “How is this even possible?” (via reddit.com) express this frustration.
Others feel cheated out of the chance to exploit the mistake for their own benefit. One subreddit revolves around the disadvantage of the Australian and New Zealand community (via reddit.com). At the time of the fail, it was only 5 AM in their time zone.
How could EA Sports make amends? A large part of the community is also speculating about EA’s response. In one of the most discussed posts, “The magnitude of this mistake is insane” (via reddit.com), various scenarios are discussed about how EA could handle this blunder. The conclusion about how EA is likely to respond is rather sobering.
For the top comment from user ‘MiamiGates’, there is no solution in sight. He writes with a certain irony: “Nothing will happen. A free TOTY Earps for everyone (referring to the cheapest TOTY card in EA FC 24, note from the editor) won’t solve the problem.” (via reddit.com)
Fan proposes TOTY Messi loan card for 99 matches
This could be a solution: Another subreddit is showing itself to be significantly more constructive in finding solutions and proposes that “EA should give everyone a loan card of TOTY Messi for 99 matches.”
This could at least temporarily fix the mistake. However, this would in turn lead to us only encountering teams that all have a TOTY Messi in their ranks. Whether the problem would be satisfactorily resolved must be determined by each individual.
How and if EA reacts at all remains open for now. As soon as there are updates on this topic, we will inform you.
Finally, we are interested in your opinion: What do you think EA could do to make amends for their mistake? Feel free to let us know in the comments.
Anyone who has not drawn a TOTY yet can try their luck with our method for infinite packs in EA FC 24.
