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EA has prov🔥ided an update regarding its ongoing investigation into the accusations that employees have been selling FUT Icons for thousands of dollars.
FIFA's Ultimate Team is being monitored closely enough as it is while the argument surrounding whether loot boxes should be considered gambling or not rages on. What EA really didn't need is a full-blown scandal surrounding FUT. That's what it has as of last week after some 🦹of its employee💛s were accused of illegally selling FUT Icons.
FUT Icons are high-priced players that are incredibly hard to come through purchasing FUT packs alone. a little less than a week after i🐷t started an investigation into the allegations made. It has revealed that "one or more" EA accounts being "used inappropriately by someone within EA" have been ജdiscovered.
The accusations first arose last week and prompted #EAGate to trend on Twitter. They were sparked by screenshots shared online which appear to show a German EA employee, with the help of two🦋 others, selling FUT Icons to a Spanish-speaking FIFA player. It's alleged that som🔜e of the sales have been executed for more than $1000 a pop. It's also alleged that the employees in question have been engaging in the practice for more than three years.
EA employees are able to perfo𝔍rm a practice called discretionary content granting. This allows them to legitimately gift FUT Icons to EA accounts for a number of reasons, whether it be testing, marketing, or compensation. It is believed this process is how employees have been selling FUT Icons to players under the radar, hence why EA has temporarily suspended al꧅l of its employees from being able to use the feature.
Whatever the result of this investigation, the pressure on EA to change the way FIFA's FUT works continues to mount. A reform currently being mulled over in Germany could mean any games featuring𒐪 loot boxes will soon have to carry an 18+ rating by law, and that will include FIFA in its current form. Needless to say, ൲EA claiming FIFA's loot boxes are actually "surprise🍸 mechanics" didn't wash with anybody.