While it has been an exciting start to the year for Ultimate Team fans with TOTY, RTTF, and Future Stars all arriving as promos so far, the popular game mode has also been at the centre of unwanted controversy.
It has been one step forward and two steps back for EA and its FC 24 updates, particularly when it comes to Ultimate Team.
A significant blunder saw hundreds of players receive a TOTY Messi card by mistake along with several other errors has left the FC 24 community baffled and frustrated in recent weeks, and now EA is coming under fire once again after their latest decision.
Players respond to UT 'loyalty' packs
Remember the free Player Days packs in FIFA Ultimate Team? Good news, they are back! The bad news is that, well, they aren't free anymore.
That's right, instead of being rewarded with free packs after logging into Ultimate Team for a certain amount of days, players will now be charged if they want to open their loyalty-based packs.
In a social media post on 12 February, EA said it had added a new "Packs For You" section to the FC 24 Ultimate Team store, which according to EA themselves, "will include packs that are specific to your Ultimate Team journey, based on common factors, like playing Ultimate Team for a certain number of days."
Although that might seem like a nice gesture at first, it's turned out to be quite the opposite, as players will now have to pay for packs they have earned by playing the game.
The old system which was in place for Player Days packs in FIFA, enabled players to claim free packs by simply logging into Ultimate Team during the Player Days promo, but that will no longer be the case in FC 24.
If that wasn't embarrassing enough, EA's post was Community Noted on X shortly after it was published, highlighting the inaccuracy of what was said.
"Contrary to what was stated in the post, these are not specific to the players' progress in the game, as they are the same for everyone who reaches the milestones. Furthermore, they aren't rewards, as you have to pay full price to open these packs. This system used to be free," the Community Note read.
As expected, the controversial change has resulted in a furious response from FC 24 players, who have labelled the decision as "shameless" and "painfully out of touch".
It's hard to disagree with the reaction, and I can't help but feel that EA have shot themselves in the foot on this occasion. Loyalty Packs, whatever the game, should always be free. Charging players for their 'rewards' after reaching certain milestones is not a good look, and as many of the comments stated, just goes to show how out of touch EA continue to be with its fanbase.
FC 24 Title Update 9 Patch Notes | Future Stars Team 2 Expected Soon in Ultimate Team | FS Right Back Power Up Evolutions Guide | How to complete Future Stars Icon Rijkaard SBC | Best Wonderkids in Career Mode | All new & updated face scans