FIFA 18 players are boycotting the game over EA’s use of microtransactions, in response to both the publisher’s handling of Star Wars Battlefront 2 and issues with the sports game’s Ultimate Team mode.
In an online campaign branded #FixFIFA, nearly 25,000 FIFA 18 players have signed a petition saying they will not partake in the game’s Black Friday sales as a result of numerous gameplay issues, along with problems with its in-game purchases. The complaints seem to stem from FIFA 18‘s patch 1.04 update, which has seen EA deploy multiple changes to the game that have angered its players.
While FIFA 18 was well-received upon launch (we called it “the greatest FIFA in years” in our review), the petition complains that it has transformed into “FIFA 17.2” as a result of EA changing its mechanics. These have caused many among the game’s community to request that EA change the game back to its original state, with the publisher having yet to respond to these criticisms.
Also: Angry Gamer Launches $240,000 Campaign to Take EA to Court for its Microtransactions
On top of this, the game’s microtransactions have also come under fire, with YouTuber Goran Popovic posting a lengthy rundown on Reddit of how unfair its Ultimate Team game mode is on those who don’t spend real-world cash on it. Though Ultimate Team is by far the FIFA franchise’s most popular mode, many players believe that the drop rates for top players in FIFA 18 are significantly lower than in previous years.
With Ultimate Team seeing players spending coins or FIFA points, the game’s purchasable currency, on obtaining packs containing players to add to their squad, it’s essentially the same concept as loot boxes. The contents of each pack are randomized, meaning that those who invest in them can wind up wasting a significant amount of money in the pursuit of unpacking a top-flight player — Popovic claimed that he and his friends spent $500 on packs, and only received one top player for their trouble.
A #FixFIFA post outlining the changes the FIFA 18 community wants EA to make to the game also criticizes its microtransactions, with user PuRe_SSROCK writing: “The packs are completely RNG and have terrible drop rates, you can either spend $1.50 and get the best player in the game, or spend thousands of dollars and get NOTHING. People with the best team in the game have spent a whopping $8,000+ to acquire it, which is absurd especially for a yearly game.”
With EA having already been roundly criticized for their use of microtransactions in Star Wars Battlefront 2, this is yet another controversy for the publisher to deal with in what must have been a particularly trying November. FIFA players are currently urging others to boycott the game’s Black Friday sales and not buy any more packs until EA has fixed the changes, with the #FixFIFA campaign garnering attention across social media and prominent YouTubers joining their cause.
