Rock Paper Shotgun FIFA Feed

enFri, 20 Oct 2023 16:00:00 +0000Meet the men hiding their FIFA Ultimate Team addiction from their familieshttps://www.rockpapershotgun.com/meet-the-men-hiding-their-fifa-ultimate-team-addiction-from-their-familiesJamie BartonFri, 20 Oct 2023 16:00:00 +0000https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/meet-the-men-hiding-their-fifa-ultimate-team-addiction-from-their-familiesMultiplayer CompetitiveXbox OneeSports relevantFIFA 23Bird view / IsometricFull productElectronic ArtsEA CanadaNintendo SwitchSportsPCEA SportsInterviewEA Sports FC 24Third personBlockbusterSingle PlayerMultiplayer CooperativeSide viewPS5EAFIFASimulationXbox Series X/SPS4

Gaurav* wakes up at 4am on Saturdays and Sundays. His routine is the same each time. He quickly turns off his alarm. He slowly shuffles out of bed, keeping the light off to avoid waking his wife and his 18-month-old son. He goes out through the bedroom door, and along the hall, to his office. He sits back in his chair, and he gets high.

In the last nine months, Gaurav has spent £2,000 on his secret addiction. He admits to a total spend over eight years of more than double that. That is, £4,250 is the amount he admits to when talking to me – he’s never told his family. But Gaurav isn’t addicted to drugs, or alcohol or even online poker. The reason Gaurav only gets a few hours of sleep each weekend, is because he can’t stop playing FIFA Ultimate Team.

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FIFA 23's World Cup update will be seasonal content, not a dedicated modehttps://www.rockpapershotgun.com/fifa-23s-fut-world-cup-will-be-seasonal-content-not-a-dedicated-modeCJ WheelerTue, 01 Nov 2022 16:34:04 +0000https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/fifa-23s-fut-world-cup-will-be-seasonal-content-not-a-dedicated-modeFIFAElectronic ArtsManagementSimulationFIFA 23Sports

An official deep dive video has confirmed that FIFA 23's Ultimate Team will not get a dedicated World Cup mode during the tournament, which begins on November 20th. Starting with Season 2 on November 11th though, the international football competition is being represented in FUT with plenty of seasonal gubbins instead. The World Cup is, of course, also coming to the main game from November 9th in single-player and online Tournament mode. You can watch the FIFA 23 World Cup deep dive video below.

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Investigation into alleged FIFA Ultimate Team black market finds an EA account was involvedhttps://www.rockpapershotgun.com/fifa-ultimate-team-investigation-finds-ea-accounts-were-involved-in-sellingAlice O'ConnorMon, 15 Mar 2021 14:14:11 +0000https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/fifa-ultimate-team-investigation-finds-ea-accounts-were-involved-in-sellingFIFAElectronic ArtsFIFA 21EA Sports

EA have admitted there may be some truth to allegations that an employee used insider access to sell FIFA Ultimate Team cards for huge sums of money. The company launched an investigation last week after claims came to light, and on Friday said they discovered at least one EA account had handed out items it shouldn't have. However, apparently it wasn't not yet clear whether someone who works for EA had done it, or if the accounts had been compromised by wrong'uns. Goodness me.

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EA investigating allegations of employee selling FIFA Ultimate Team cardshttps://www.rockpapershotgun.com/ea-investigating-allegations-of-employee-selling-fifa-ultimate-team-cardsAlice O'ConnorThu, 11 Mar 2021 16:58:14 +0000https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/ea-investigating-allegations-of-employee-selling-fifa-ultimate-team-cardsFIFAElectronic ArtsFIFA 21EA Sports

The Ultimate Team mode in FIFA has found itself at the heart of another conspiratorial scandal. Mere days ago, EA announced the end of a lawsuit which had alleged they were rigging matches. Now, some believe that an employee might be selling rare and valuable footballers for vast sums of real money. EA say they are investigating the allegations, and "will take swift action" if they uncover wrongdoing.

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Lawsuit claims Fifa uses dynamic difficulty to sell more loot boxeshttps://www.rockpapershotgun.com/lawsuit-claims-fifa-uses-dynamic-difficulty-to-sell-more-loot-boxesAlice O'ConnorThu, 12 Nov 2020 17:04:18 +0000https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/lawsuit-claims-fifa-uses-dynamic-difficulty-to-sell-more-loot-boxesloot boxesFIFALawsuitElectronic ArtsFIFA 21SportsEA SportsMadden NFL 21NHL 20

A new class-action lawsuit accuses Electronic Arts of using dynamic difficulty to pressure players into buying more loot boxes in the card-collecting Ultimate Team mode of Fifa and other sports games. The plaintiffs claim the games use a dynamically difficulty adjustment system which makes teams seem worse than they are, perpetually nudging people to buy 'Player Packs' for improve their teams. EA responded saying simply nope, that's not true. But the fact that some believe it strongly enough to file a lawsuit demonstrates one of the problems with loot boxes: their presence makes it easy to suspect a game is weighted against you to tempt you to pay more.

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FIFA Ultimate Team to effectively stop selling loot boxes in Belgiumhttps://www.rockpapershotgun.com/fifa-ultimate-team-packs-blocked-in-belgiumAlice O'ConnorTue, 29 Jan 2019 13:56:32 +0000https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/fifa-ultimate-team-packs-blocked-in-belgiumloot boxesFIFAElectronic ArtsFIFA 19SportsFIFA 18Belgiummicrotransactions

Electronic Arts have thrown in the towel in their battle with Belgium over whether or not paid loot boxes in FIFA's Ultimate Team mode constitute illegal gambling. Without admitting to anything, EA today announced that they will soon stop selling Belgian players the 'FIFA Points' microtransaction currency used to buy Ultimate Team 'packs', effectively stopping selling them. Technically if someone is sitting on €657965468476 of virtuacash they'll still be able to buy loot boxes until the cows come home, but no new Points will be sold.

"After further discussions with the Belgian authorities, we have decided to stop offering FIFA Points for sale in Belgium," EA said today. I can relate. After further discussions with the Scottish authorities, I myself recently decided to stop stabbing tourists in Scotland.

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Sixteen gambling regulators unite to grumble about loot boxes and skin gamblinghttps://www.rockpapershotgun.com/gambling-regulators-declarationDominic TarasonMon, 17 Sep 2018 18:58:58 +0000https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/gambling-regulators-declarationloot boxesEAFIFAGamblingLegalWashington State Gambling Commission

The walls seem to be closing in on loot boxes and digital football cards. Just last week, the Belgian gaming commission declared that EA are under criminal investigation after refusing to cut paid loot boxes from the FIFA series. Now, sixteen gambling regulators around the world (mostly Europe, but Washington State are involved) have made a joint declaration that there's something rotten in the state of videogames. Loot boxes, skin gambling, "social casino gaming" and more are now under their scrutiny, according to the British Gambling Commission and other signatories.

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FIFA 19 to disclose Ultimate Team loot box oddshttps://www.rockpapershotgun.com/fifa-19-to-disclose-ultimate-team-loot-box-oddsAlice O'ConnorMon, 02 Jul 2018 14:10:03 +0000https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/fifa-19-to-disclose-ultimate-team-loot-box-oddsloot boxesFIFAElectronic ArtsFIFA 19SportsEA Sports

EA say they plan to disclose odds of loot box items in FIFA 19 and other sport 'em ups, though it's unclear quite how specific they'll get. Loot boxes in FIFA? Yup, those are the 'packs' of random players and power-ups for FIFA's long-running Ultimate Team mode (FUT), sold for a virtuacash or a premium microtransaction currency, which players use to build and boost a team. The packs give a vague indication of what might be inside (a bit like Mass Effect multiplayer, if that's a more illuminating reference point to you) but doesn't actually tell players odds on getting the specific shinies they long for - a common but still shoddy loot box practice.

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FIFA 19 yoinks the Champions Leaguehttps://www.rockpapershotgun.com/fifa-19-champions-leagueAlice O'ConnorSat, 09 Jun 2018 20:17:52 +0000https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/fifa-19-champions-leagueFIFAElectronic ArtsFIFA 19EA CanadaSportsEA SportsE3 2018

EA have landed the Champions League license for FIFA 19, taking possession from Konami's rival Pro Evolution Soccer series after its 10-year deal expired. Y'know, the Champions League, the Pan-European football competition with the sixth-best theme song in sporting television (after Formula 1, the Test Match Cricket, Football Italia, BBC Snooker, and Monday Night Handegg). The Champions League will be splattered all across FIFA 19, getting its own mode, sending Alex Hunter to play in it during its story mode 'The Journey', and popping up in FIFA Ultimate Team and all that too. And most importantly, it has that song. Well, kind of. Here, give this trailer a listen.

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Perfectly Spherical Balls: Fifa 17 Moves To Frostbitehttps://www.rockpapershotgun.com/fifa-17-frostbiteAdam SmithTue, 07 Jun 2016 09:36:13 +0000https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/fifa-17-frostbiteFIFA 17FIFAElectronic ArtsSportsFIFA 16

Football finally stopped recently, when Pepe's Injured Aura and the rest of the plucky Real Madrid scrappers won the Champions League in a penalty shoot-out. It all starts again on Friday, of course, with the first game of Euro 2016, but football definitely stopped for a minute there. It might have been a half a minute if you're interested in the Copa América, which kicked off the weekend just gone.

The point is, football never stops for long and EA know that, which is why they're already teasing next season's FIFA [official site]. Big changes may be afoot, as the game is moving to DICE's Frostbite engine. Destructible pitches incoming?

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FIFA 16 Is A Game Of Marvellous Imperfectionshttps://www.rockpapershotgun.com/fifa-16-reviewAdam SmithFri, 25 Sep 2015 17:00:26 +0000https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/fifa-16-reviewFeatureFIFAElectronic ArtsSportsEA SportsFIFA 16football

According to the wise folks of digital football, there's a new king in town. Or rather, an old king who has returned to reclaim his crown. Pro Evolution Soccer 2016 has been receiving rave reviews and with FIFA head honcho Sep Blatter once again making headlines for all the wrong reasons, there's no better time for a changing of the guard.

I'll get to Pro Evo soon. Early impressions of FIFA 16 [official site] suggest Konami's kick 'em up might have to fight hard for my affection.

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How FIFA 16 Ultimate Team Is Addressing Coin Glitchinghttps://www.rockpapershotgun.com/fifa-16-coin-glitchingGraham SmithTue, 15 Sep 2015 08:51:42 +0000https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/fifa-16-coin-glitchingFIFAEA CanadaSportsFIFA 16FIFA 15

FIFA is that game series I play while the rest of RPS shake their heads and sigh slightly. FIFA Ultimate Team is the mode I spend money on, using real currency to buy virtual football stickers which heal bruises on virtual footballer's thighs, while the rest of RPS wrestle me to the ground and try to get the debit card out of my hand before I bankrupt myself. The fight will intensify: FIFA 16 [official site] is making changes to FUT, which includes lifting the artificial caps FIFA 15 introduced for price ranges on the player trading market. There's a video explaining the changes below.

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Why Playing FIFA Causes So Much Aggressionhttps://www.rockpapershotgun.com/fifa-aggressionJoe DonnellyTue, 08 Sep 2015 18:00:46 +0000https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/fifa-aggressionFeatureFIFAFIFA 14Electronic ArtsFIFA 10FIFA 13SportsEsportsEA SportsFIFA 12FIFA 16FIFA 15FIFA 09

“I’ve been playing FIFA competitively since 09 but it's only as of about January this year I learned to control my aggression towards it,” says David Bytheway. Bytheway, a competitive FIFA player from Wolverhampton, reached last year’s FIFA Interactive World Cup final in Rio De Janeiro, but fell at the last hurdle to Denmark’s August Rosenmeier.

The game finished 3-1 with Bytheway squandering a first half lead, compounding the disappointment of missing out on not just the $20,000 prize money, but also an invitation to the 2014 Ballon D’or - FIFA’s prestigious real life world player of the year awards ceremony.

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In The Game: FIFA 16 Gets Women's International Teamshttps://www.rockpapershotgun.com/fifa-16-womens-international-teamsPhilippa WarrThu, 28 May 2015 14:00:48 +0000https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/fifa-16-womens-international-teamsFIFABlockbusterSportsFIFA 16football

So here's a GOOD piece of news involving FIFA - the gaming franchise will finally be adding women to its playable character roster, kicking off [sorry] with the twelve women's international teams included in FIFA 16 [official site].

Here's the trailer:

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RPS Chat: Curve Balls And Cheat Claims In Football Gameshttps://www.rockpapershotgun.com/football-game-curve-ballsPhilippa WarrThu, 30 Apr 2015 11:00:00 +0000https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/football-game-curve-ballsFeatureFIFASensible SoccerVirtua TennisSportsfootball

Pip: Adam and Graham, do the football simulators include curve ball physics? I was trying to get to sleep last night and I started wondering if curve ball physics were seen as weird or unfair or OP if they transitioned to games on account of being less predictable than straight shots.

Graham: You can add after touch to shots to curl them in PES or FIFA, but it requires careful aiming on the part of players and is usually limited by the skill of the real life footballer you're controlling at that moment. The camera angle, because it's side-on like a television camera, also stops it from being an easy bend-away-from-goalkeeper cheat.

Adam: Going way back, it was the best way to score in Sensible Soccer.

Pip: But people don't kick off if you use it? What I mean is if curling a ball happens in real life you have to suck it up - okay you might complain but it's something that physically just happened and you can't argue that it's a broken system - but in a game I was wondering if that held or whether it was treated differently.

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FIFA Ultimate Team On Player Upgrade Spreehttps://www.rockpapershotgun.com/fifa-ultimate-team-player-upgradesPhilippa WarrThu, 19 Feb 2015 17:00:18 +0000https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/fifa-ultimate-team-player-upgradesFIFAFIFA 15Sportsfoot-to-ball

Foot-to-ball isn't actually on the list of "things I do not understand". I followed it closely for a few years in the mid nineties so I'm not a stranger to how the game works. My reference points, however, are outdated and weirdly specific and I have never played FIFA. This post about FIFA Ultimate Team player updates can only go well then…

N.B. Usually Graham would be doing that stuff but he and John are on a "coffee adventure" so here I am.

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FIFA 15 Gets E3 2014 Trailer, Is Ballshttps://www.rockpapershotgun.com/fifa-15-trailerGraham SmithTue, 10 Jun 2014 08:00:37 +0000https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/fifa-15-trailerFIFAElectronic ArtsE3 2014EA SportsFIFA 15

FIFA 15 is a game that I will definitely play. The latest entry in EA's endless foot-to-ball series will bring the PC version in-line with the next-gen console releases, finally giving us the new physics and graphics engine that console players received last year. It'll also bring one of E3's most hyperbolic trailers, which is embedded below alongside a thousand whiny complaints from me.

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Foot-to-ball World Cup Comes To FIFA Ultimate Teamhttps://www.rockpapershotgun.com/fifa-14-world-cupGraham SmithSat, 24 May 2014 09:00:24 +0000https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/fifa-14-world-cupFIFA World CupFIFA

The foot-to-ball season is over! What does that mean? More foot-to-ball! 2014 is a World Cup year, which means we get to experience the sport being played at the highest level combined with naturally increased levels of drama, excitement, disappointment and tabloid controversy. Who will become this tournament's national pariah? It's anyone's game!

It also means EA has another opportunity to stick you/me for more money in exchange for basically the same game. This year they're offering up the World Cup not as an expansion or a standalone product at least, but as a free addition to the microtransaction-funded FIFA14 Ultimate Team mode. This is good, because it's technically free. This is bad, because it's "technically" free. There's a trailer below which explains everything. Sort of.

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As Open As Your Goal, Mate: FIFA World Open Betahttps://www.rockpapershotgun.com/fifa-world-open-betaAlice O'ConnorWed, 21 May 2014 19:00:43 +0000https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/fifa-world-open-betaFIFAFree-to-playFIFA WorldEA Sports

Association football is, in many ways, the greatest real-world PC game. It's a squad-based real-time tactical co-op/competitive multiplayer game with over 150 years of lore and canon to obsess over. It has squillions of characters, each with their own stats, backstory, and internal lives right down to daily routines. The game is still updated, but some rules changes are controversial, and other rules are still often misunderstood. You can collect thousands of cosmetic items. That's a Game Of The Year 10/10 PC Platinum All-Gold Classic if I ever heard of one.

All of which is to say that EA's free-to-kick FIFA World is now in open beta.

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Seven Days In The Thrall Of FIFA Ultimate Teamhttps://www.rockpapershotgun.com/seven-days-in-the-thrall-of-fifa-ultimate-teamGraham SmithFri, 18 Oct 2013 16:00:16 +0000https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/seven-days-in-the-thrall-of-fifa-ultimate-teamFIFAFIFA 14

You might not know it, but FIFA 14 is a strategy game. Not just a game with strategy in it, but a real-time strategy game with units you command against an opponent. It's also a roleplaying game about levelling up, a management game about economies and trading, a fighting game about manual dexterity and timing moves, and a collectable card game with all the charm of Panini stickers or baseball cards.

It's a foot-to-ball game, but you don't need to know anything about the sport to love it. I mean, I got into foot-to-ball because of FIFA, not the other way around. I have played perhaps a thousand hours of it over the past three years. And now, with FIFA 14, I'm taking my first steps into FIFA Ultimate Team. Let me explain to you why GManhattan FC is now my favourite club in the world.

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Goldenballs To Go: Browser FIFA Toohttps://www.rockpapershotgun.com/goldenballs-to-go-browser-fifa-tooAlec MeerMon, 01 Feb 2010 15:53:27 +0000https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/goldenballs-to-go-browser-fifa-tooFIFAFIFA OnlineElectronic Arts

EA are bloody up to something. Something that might just involve seizing back a prime cut of PC gaming rump. Browser Tiger Woods, browser Ultima fan-baiting and, soon browser FIFA. The next time you hear someone say that the major publishers don't care about PC gaming anymore, tell 'em about this sinister-but-exciting plan.

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Foot-to-Ball Demonstration Availabilityhttps://www.rockpapershotgun.com/foot-to-ball-demonstration-availabilityJohn WalkerMon, 03 Sep 2007 10:23:55 +0000https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/foot-to-ball-demonstration-availabilityFree gamesFIFAElectronic Artsfoot-to-ball

We understand that some of our readers are fond of a sport called Foot-to-Ball, played by young men with fashionable haircuts and uncomplicated wives. Part of its underground popularity has been fueled by the long-running rendition of the sport in videogamingvision by a small, independent company know as Electronic Arts.

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