FIFA 18 Players Stage #FixFIFA Black Friday Boycott Of In-Game Purchases
Disgruntled games who are not happy with the direction Electronic Arts has taken FIFA 18, the latest installment in the publisher's soccer simulation franchise, have banded together to organize a Black Friday boycott of in-game purchases. Fans of the soccer sim have a long list of grievances, among them a displeasure with how EA has been handling microtransactions, a sticky subject as of late.
One of the things gamers are ticked off about is the drop-rate for top players in FIFA 18. While the drop-rate is not officially released, it is rare to get a top player. YouTuber Goran Popovic brought this to attention in a video and a Reddit post that outlines the many things he and others want EA to address. In regards to microtransasctions, Popovic claims he and a friend collectively spent $500 on in-game purchases, and only once did FIFA 18 reward them with a premium player (a goalkeeper).
"I get that Ultimate Team was designed to make money for EA, lots of money. But the balance has shifted from a good game with microtransactions to one where you kind of need to spend money to save time, unless you're super lucky or one of the greatest players," Popovic told Polygon.
The boycott is part of a larger social media campaign with the #FixFIFA hashtag. There is also a petition on Change.org that has garnered more than 27,000 signatures in 72 hours. It lists several complaints, including input delay during online gaming sessions, freezing issues, a broken invite system on Pro Clubs, and so forth.
"As a customer, I cannot stress enough for you to not purchase FIFA Points, Open Packs or even give your time to play the game until these issues are at least addressed and we have a solution no matter how tempting certain pack offers/picking up the game may be," the petition states.
EA can't seem to catch a break lately, though many would argue the wounds are self-inflicted. This call for a boycott follows an intense Internet backlash over in-game purchases in Battlefront II, with gamers complaining about the length of time it takes to unlock premium heroes such as Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader. The situation blew up on Reddit, and EA eventually responded by temporarily disabling microtransactions in Battlefront II.
That seems to have served as inspiration to gamers, who once again are taking to Reddit in hopes of attracting enough negative attention to compel EA to make some changes.
