According to one picture it appears that this practice has been in place for many years, and the message in Spanish indicated that it was an employee from EA Germany with FUT 26 Coins selling the cards with the help of two intermediaries, and was doing it for "at minimum three years I can recall." The employee needed only the purchaser's EA as well as PSN ID for the purchase to be completed.

Although an employee selling illegally  EA FC 26 Ultimate Team cards is undoubtedly a source of anger for many , it also is a matter that could be more troubling. FIFA cards and loot box have long been a subject of contention in the video game franchise, enough so that authorities have started investigation in several countries into the practice , and have questioned whether gambling is a factor.

In recent times there has been an increasing number of stories have been reported of players who have spent hundreds, to thousands of dollars for loot boxes, not only in EA games, but in other games as well. The fact that a lot of players think it's more affordable to spend between $1000 and $2600 to buy  EA FC 26 packs of cards under the table with this EA employee is a testament to their trust in the probability of being able to obtain these items legally.

The ongoing debate surrounding the issue of what FIFA fans call "EA Gate" continues to escalate. EA has denied allegations that official accounts were used to market exclusive, valuable FIFA Ultimate Team objects for hundreds of dollars. In the course of its investigation, EA has also made an immediate decision to stop the reward system for discretionary items for a period of time. It's unlikely to ease the angst in the FIFA community However, it's an important step in the right direction.

For those who aren't familiar about the concept of discretionary content granted to FIFA by EA The publisher has gave a brief overview. In essence, it's a means to allow EA to offer FIFA Ultimate Team contents to players automatically, bypassing the RNG components that are included in FIFA packs. The items are given to EA staff or its partners, and are not exchanged. EA states that they are only available for professional players of the football league, celebrities employees and partners, and certainly not given to "professional gaming influencers."

Additionally, EA says that discretionary items may be handed out by customer service representatives to players who have deleted items accidentally, or distributed through testing and quality-verification users through testing accounts whenever issues arise. Naturally, these situations have the strictest restrictions.

EA is evidently trying to dispel the idea that it's making use of this FIFA Ultimate Team products without restriction. It's not difficult to see the reason FIFA Ultimate Team players would be concerned that Youtubers as well as Twitch streamers they follow are manipulative and don't have the same system they do. They also worried that EA might manipulate their FIFA Ultimate Team marketplace through these items that are discretionary.

What EA wants to achieve is to correct this erroneous belief, since it could be extremely damaging to the image of what's now one of the most profitable games. If players don't trust FIFA Ultimate Team packs which is why they will not purchase the packs. EA would like players to be aware that, despite the situation isn't the best it is still possible to believe in that the FIFA Ultimate Team market.

In the end, EA isn't trying to downplay the controversy in its own. It's recognized that the system for redemption of discretionary items has been misused and began a comprehensive and "rigorous" investigation to buy FC 26 Coins into the way it occurred. It also has promised to take action against those accounts involved in the illegal buying and selling of items, and to remove any illicit items. Finally, EA has issued an apology for the harm the issue and the controversy has caused on players in the FIFA community. I hope that FIFA players will be grateful as a beginning.