In EA FC 24, on Tuesday, January 30, one of the biggest blunders in the history of FIFA/EA FC occurred. EA has now responded to the ongoing criticism from the community. Many fans were shocked when they saw the apology from the developer.
What happened? On Tuesday, January 30, a new Squad Building Challenge (SBC) was introduced, in which players could choose between three players with a minimum rating of 86+. All three player slots were filled by a randomly selected Team-of-the-Year league (TOTY league).
However, a problem arose. If the random choice fell on the American men’s league, namely the Major Soccer League (MLS), a TOTY Messi, one of the strongest and most expensive cards in the game, was automatically assigned. The probability was calculated to be excessively high at 25%.
This glitch could be exploited by some players for half an hour before EA caught wind of the massive blunder. After the SBC was removed, large parts of the community felt disadvantaged and expressed their displeasure on all forums. EA has now responded to this.
After examining “multiple scenarios” – No compensation
How does EA respond to the incident? In a statement on the EA Sports website they addressed the significant blunder and initially outlined the process and its effects.
EA summarized the events from Tuesday evening as follows:
- On Tuesday, January 30, an SBC was released, which was supposed to include a guaranteed 86+ player from one of the thirteen TOTY leagues.
- Two of the leagues each had only one player that could have an overall rating of 86 or higher, namely ‘Rest of the World’ and the MLS.
- The SBC was available for 24 minutes until the design problems were recognized and the SBC was removed.
- 0.7% of Ultimate Team players estimated that they drew a TOTY Messi during this time frame.
How does EA respond to the criticism from fans? They admit their own mistakes, apologize to the community, and show understanding for the frustration.
So far, so good. After conciliatory words to the fans, EA further explains that they have “examined multiple scenarios.” To be “fair and to ensure the long-term health of the game,” they draw the following conclusions:
- Players who completed the SBC while it was active will keep their rewards
- The SBC will not reappear in its original design
In a final sentence, EA admits, “that this is not the perfect solution,” and that they “will continue to work to minimize such errors in the future.”
This comes as a double blow to many fans after the initial disadvantage of not having completed the SBC.
Fans react with gallows humor: “I’m dying laughing”
This is how fans think about the ‘solution proposal’: In a subreddit on reddit.com titled ‘EA’s official response to the league TOTY SBC’, some members of the community express disbelief about the conclusions.
One of the most liked comments from user ‘Maelstrommmmm’ mixes his shock with a healthy dose of irony and sarcasm: “Their solution is actually to do nothing. I’m dying laughing. I’m curious how many ‘sycophants‘ will defend this in the comments.” (via reddit.com)
He gets an immediate response from another seemingly dissatisfied user named ‘RaRaRaaputitin’. This user feels that the only people who would approve of this solution proposal are those who drew a TOTY Messi and are afraid of losing that card. (via reddit.com)
Many other comments lean towards the same opinion.
Community speculates about the number of TOTY Messi
Another hotly debated topic is EA’s statement that 0.7 percent of all UT players supposedly drew a TOTY Messi (see statement above). One user expresses surprise at how many of these strong cards are now actually in players’ clubs: (…) “There are much more Messis than I expected.” (via reddit.com)
A Twitter thread even attempted to calculate the percentage in absolute numbers:
The post indicates that there is an estimated number of approximately 11 million players worldwide. At 0.7%, according to EA’s estimates, nearly 77,000 people would own a TOTY Messi due to the blunder.
These approximately 77,000 lucky players who were able to take advantage of EA’s error certainly will not be participating in the criticism from the community. For many other fans who came away empty-handed, the frustration continues to linger.
You only have until today to have the chance to pull a TOTY. We have for you a method to get almost unlimited packs in EA FC 24.
