FIFA Points have been a topic of discussion among players for years. Pro Tim Latka now plans to play FIFA 21 without spending real money. What is behind this?
This is Tim Latka: “Tim Latka” Schwartmann is a German FIFA pro and is currently under contract with FC Schalke 04. In the new season, he intends to manage without purchasing FIFA Points, as he stated in a video announcement:
What are FIFA Points? FIFA Points are an in-game currency in Ultimate Team, which can be used to purchase packs, for instance. Unlike FUT coins, which can be earned through gameplay, FIFA Points can only be obtained by spending real money.
These packs contain players. However, it is left to chance how strong the players in the packs ultimately are. They are effectively loot boxes, which EA once referred to as “surprise mechanics.”
Therefore, it can take quite a few packs before assembling a strong team. Last year, for example, a pro mentioned how much money he invests in the game to offset disadvantages.
Development “hasn’t really pleased me”
This is why Tim Latka decided against FIFA Points: In his video, the pro emphasizes that he has participated in many professional tournaments over the past years. It has essentially been a prerequisite to invest many FIFA Points – after all, one must keep up with the teams of other pros.
“Unfortunately, we are not just talking about 100 euros,” explains Schwartmann in his statement. Rather, one is talking about 2,000, 3,000, or even 4,000 euros – depending on the club, team, and organization. In recent years, according to Schwartmann, “this sum has also gone into my FIFA account. That is a development that hasn’t really pleased me.”
Although it has been worthwhile for him, and clubs cover part of the FUT money as “work material,” he states: “That has always been a thorn in my side for me. An eSport should not be defined by who spends the most money.”
Now Schwartmann has decided to enter the new game with 0 euros even before the FIFA 21 release and “accept this disadvantage” – even though he knows that other eSports players have an advantage with icons. He gives two reasons for this:
“Point A is that I simply feel that eSports is not developing well in that direction, which bothers me a bit,” says the pro, who focuses on the second point: “That the game is increasingly oriented toward requiring more FIFA Points to be purchased.”
By this, he does not necessarily mean the constant promos that have regularly appeared in FIFA – after all, they are also good content for active players, as Schwartmann states. However, he emphasizes: “Overall, one has increasingly felt that it revolves around Points.”
Tim Latka emphasizes responsibility
What happens next? Large opening videos with purchased FUT packs, as often seen on YouTube, should not be expected from Tim Latka in the future. He now plans a “Road to Glory,” meaning a FUT season completely without spending real money. He is not the first: Streamer “Badeschlappen” followed a similar approach.
“This is the content I want to bring in the future. Not the content that suggests ‘I play a bit of casino, but say it’s FIFA and pull packs for several hundred or 1,000 euros.'”
He emphasizes that as a streamer one also has a certain responsibility: “I would probably be even more successful in terms of clicks if I did that. However, I do not want to suggest that what we do is right.”
In recent years, there have been recurring cases where players have reported the immense costs that FUT can cause. For instance, one player spent all his money for studies on FUT packs.
His club, Schalke 04, has supported him in his decision – which Latka considers not to be a given. After all, one wants to compete as high as possible purely in terms of performance. The contractually guaranteed money he has available for Ultimate Team, he intends to donate meanwhile.
