FIFA 19 has been hit by three Ultimate Team gaffes in just a couple of days.
Squad Building Challenges (SBCs) – the trading game where players swap cards – are some of the most popular things to do in FIFA.
This is because there are a number of limited, time-sensitive rewards for those who complete an SBC.
But EA managed to screw these up pretty badly.
Firstly, the weekly Marquee Matchup – which was based on big international games that week – included Czech Republic vs Slovenia instead of Czech Republic vs Slovakia.
Secondly, in a Prime ICONS 3 SBC – which unlocks one of the five Icons, players soon realised they could repeat the SBC to get Rare Player Packs.
It didn’t take long for EA to spot the error and pull the SBC just an hour after it went live.
Finally, EA released their Bundesliga Player of the Month SBC, which was Borussia Dortmund’s Jadon Sancho.
However, EA pulled the SBC after some confusion over where he actually plays.
He was inserted into the game as an LW, but all the publicity (including the image above) had him holding a card as an RM.
It’s not a great problem as Sancho plays in both positions in real life for club and country, but the confusion led to EA pulling the SBC.
Things haven’t been going too well for EA’s football game across the board.
In a recent financial call, EA revealed Ultimate Team was generating less money than expected – with boss Andrew Wilson saying some players may be distracted by the other modes.
“With FIFA 19, we set out this year to create a game that expanded our core FIFA product, adding the UEFA Champions League and innovative new game modes,” Wilson said.
“As we have seen previously when we have delivered innovative and creative new ways to play such as The Journey, FIFA players will jump into the new content first, and over time move into Ultimate Team.
“So far since launch, we have more players engaging across a great breadth of modes, from Career mode to Kickoff and Tournaments.”
EA CFO Blake Jorgensen revealed that live services, such as Ultimate Team, are expected to be flat up to five per cent growth year-on-year.
“This is lower than our original guidance, primarily due to reduced expectations for Ultimate Team, the delay of Battlefield 5, and the FX headwind,” he said.
Watch this space.
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