Has EA just broken Fifa Ultimate Team?

Fifa 15 publisher Electronic Arts has launched a stern defence of its decision to reconfigure the transfer market within the game’s popular Ultimate Team mode. In a blog post seen by the Guardian before publication, the company insists that fans who have taken to social media and games forums to declare the game fundamentally broken are wide of the mark. 

Ultimate Team works like a trading card game, allowing players to purchase packs of digital player “cards” allowing them to build fantasy teams of well-known stars. Previously, FUT’s open-bid auction system allowed fans to sell high value players at vastly inflated prices. However, many Fifa purchasers quickly found that they could exploit the open auctions for considerable monetary gain. In early March, the system was restricted so that all cards on the market have to be priced within an EA-defined range, and include a Buy It Now option. Fans responded with near-universal criticism of the move, going so far as to coin the hashtag #RIPFUT on social media.

In its extensive blog post and FAQ , EA confirms that the prime target of these changes were third parties manipulating the system for their own financial gain. “We want to keep the game fair and secure for everyone, and ensure a level playing field for all FUT fans,” says EA. “To accomplish this we have to root out the activities of coin farmers and cheaters who are harming your experience. 

While something needed to be done, many questioned EA’s need to apply a minimum price value to cards. Rather than level the playing field, in many cases it saw FUT players lumbered with unshiftable commodities. For instance, only last week the market was swamped with gold Daniel Sturridge cards, all unsold at their minimum value of 16,000 coins.