Currently, German media and gaming sites are reporting about an alleged scandal in FIFA 19. A patent is said to prove that the match flow in EA’s football game is being manipulated. They refer to a YouTube video. However, the supposedly very recent leak is already a year and a half old.
What’s happening right now? A YouTuber uploaded a video “FIFA 19: How EA is fooling us.” (via YouTube)
In the video, he refers to a patent from 2017 (via patentimgaes), which concerns the dynamic adjustment of the difficulty level.
This technique is supposed to affect many aspects:
- Players with losing streaks should have better chances of pulling top players from the FUT card packs
- Stronger players are said to be disadvantaged in a FIFA 19 match, while weaker players are favored, so that the matches are more exciting and players stay engaged longer
This patent has now “emerged as a leak” and finally it can be proven what has been suspected all along: The “momentum” is real. The games in FIFA 19 are manipulated.
The YouTuber urges viewers to make this scandal big. He seems to be quite successful at it.
Some German websites, primarily Sport Bild, have picked up on this topic and are reporting on a scandal.
Why are only German sites reporting on this? This is because the YouTuber has not presented any new facts.
The patent was made public back in early 2018 and sparked a discussion. EA has since assured that it was not used in FIFA 19.
Therefore, there is no new information here. Well-informed FIFA players have known about the document for a long time and EA’s statement regarding it.
Although the topic flares up again whenever people discover this patent for themselves, they are informed by experienced forum users that this has already been discussed 100 times.
It is merely noticeable that in Reddit’s FIFA, the patent was again discussed 6 days ago (via reddit) – possibly the YouTuber has now picked up this discussion for his video.
Why is this coming up again? Some FIFA players firmly believe that there is a “momentum” and justify this with incredible game sequences.
They may be overwhelmingly dominant but suddenly hit nothing, as if the game has “decided” that the opponent must win now.
Additionally, many believe that well-known YouTubers and streamers have disproportionately good luck when opening loot boxes. Their chances are increased and certainly manipulated because only the content creators get the “good cards,” while they themselves only draw “garbage.”
What does EA say about this? A community manager from EA states in the German forum that they have repeatedly posted and confirmed that there are no factors like handicap, momentum, or scripting in FIFA 19. Therefore, such posts violate the rules of the official FIFA forum (via answers.ea.com)
A similar rumor also existed for Anthem, another EA title:
