SUMMARY
- Lionel Messi joined Inter Miami in the summer of 2023.
- EA FC 24 was launched in September 2023.
EA FC 24 is the first installment from game developers EA Sports after they rebranded their iconic FIFA series. The game was rebranded into EA Sports FC after its deal with FIFA expired after FIFA 23. While the name has changed, it feels like the glitches are here to stay in the biggest soccer video game in the world.
The most popular mode of the game is Ultimate Team, where players compete by combining teams with special cards of their favorite players. These special cards are often released with higher ratings as compared to their base version. The latest chance to win these cards came in the Team of the Year (TOTY) promotion from EA Sports.
EA awarded many players a TOTY Lionel Messi for a Squad Building Challenge
To win a TOTY, players need to complete a squad-building challenge that was pretty easy to complete for regular players. Upon completion, fans could win a Team of the Year card with a minimum rating of 86. Usually, in these challenges, packing highly valuable cards like Lionel Messi is quite rare. These cards are valuable in the marketplace due to their high ratings.
Played 6 games this morning…
3/6 were against TOTY Messi 🇦🇷
EA actually ruined the game with that mistake last night. pic.twitter.com/ABtPioV7bz
— EAFC 24 News (@FUT24News) January 31, 2024
Messi’s TOTY card is 97 rated in the game and was recently valued at around 10 million in-game coins of EA FC 24. The glitch came to light when fans noticed that many players were packing Lionel Messi, which isn’t natural for these challenges.
The game described that only TOTY items were awarded as part of the challenge but some fans received items that were different from the description. It was concluded that the challenge was broken, and the glitch was quickly spread on social media. Some fans were quick to flock toward the challenge, and many even won the TOTY Messi due to the glitch.
EA Sports responded by disabling the challenge
EA Sports responded by disabling the challenge. Their communication channel acknowledges that there was a glitch in the challenge, which is why they disabled it. The response enraged the rest of the fans who were not able to win the TOTY Messi.
Many fans are complaining that many teams now have overpowered cards in their team, which is unfair to the players who weren’t able to win the card. These cards are rare which is essential for the overall balance of the game. Since many teams have this card, the power balance is shifted unfairly.
We have identified an issue with the 86+ TOTY Leagues SBC, as a result we have disabled the SBC.
— EA SPORTS FC Direct Communication (@EASFCDirect) January 30, 2024
Lionel Messi has the highest rating in the EA FC 24 with this 97-rated card. The Inter Miami superstar is at the top along with Kylian Mbappe and Caroline Graham Hansen, who also have 97 rated cards.
The gaming company is yet to provide a reason for the glitch and is yet to inform whether any compensation will be awarded to the rest of the players. The fans are currently lost and unsure how the developers will shift the balance of the game after this glitch.