EA makes biggest blunder ever with free TOTY Messi cards, players left fuming
Own goals don't come any worse than this...
Electronic Arts is the master of its own downfall when it comes to FC 24 Ultimate Team, having already wished out a number of compensation packs in the last few months, repeatedly releasing packs and SBCs with the wrong reward weight.
Now though, EA has shanked the ball right into the top bins of its own goal, as it has dished out thousands of free Team of the Year Lionel Messi cards, and those unfortunate enough to have missed out are livid.
EA dishes out thousands of free TOTY Messi cards in FC 24
Click to enlargeEA FC 24's TOTY promotion hasn't been a hit with players, as those who have saved up all of their weekly rewards for months were hit with a massive slash in the probability of hitting high-tier players in packs, leaving their savings to be thrown down the loo.
Now, EA released a Premium 86+ player pick, where the probability of hitting players in individual leagues was heightened, and MLS landed with a near 100% record, where Lionel Messi was the only player in said division to be eligible to appear.
In the opening 25 minutes after the SBCs release, thousands of players logged on to complete the challenge, with Messi cropping up in nearly every player's pick of three.
The SBC was rapidly pulled back by EA as it was quick to see players taking to social media to gloat about the picks at a very abnormal rate. "We have identified an issue with the 86+ TOTY Leagues SBC, as a result we have disabled the SBC," EA said on Twitter.
EA ridiculed over free TOTY SBC
As arguably the best card in the game, those who weren't quick enough to take advantage of the glitched SBC are now at an unfair disadvantage and are abundantly livid.
One especially aggrieved fan took to Twitter to say, "So, so deflating for anyone that's grinded thousands of packs (I've done ~6500), dumped millions of coins into packs, or spent actual money on packs over TOTY. Fair play if you got a Messi, you aren't the ones to blame. What a start to the new era EA SPORTS FC."
Another fan said, "People spend hundreds, thousands even. People save hundreds, thousands of packs for this promo. You f**k the weight completely on full release, absolutely screwing everyone over. Now you give half the player base TOTY Messi. F**k you EA SPORTS FC."
Others took aim at the lack of compensation and action from EA.
"They’re not even gonna give us an insight to what happened, they’ll ignore it completely and re-release the SBC like nothing happened. Embarrassment," a third fan said.
It's not yet sure if Messi will be taken off anyone, or even dished out for free to everyone else, but given Division Rivals' state now, it's hard to see how Ultimate Team ever balances this out.
