EA Gate: FIFA Ultimate Team Cards Allegedly Sold By EA Employee For Cash - EA Responds

UPDATE: EA has responded to the allegations

A new statement released via the EA Sports FIFA Twitter account has confirmed that EA is "aware of the allegations currently circulating within our community".

"A thorough investigation is underway, and if we identify improper conduct, we will take swift action."

"We want to be clear - this type of behavior is unacceptable, and we in no way condone what is alleged to have happened here."

"We understand how this creates concern about unfair balance in the game and competition. We will update the community as we get more clarity on the situation."

We will, of course, continue to update this developing story.

Original Story Follows:

FIFA Ultimate Team is big business, with the "blind pack" mechanism expected to bring in $250 billion by 2025 as part of continued loot box purchases, and while the in-game cards are only purchasable with coins, it appears one EA employee has allegedly been offloading some for cash.

As per the hashtag "EAGATE", it appears one seller, allegedly an EA employee, has been offloading packs of ICON cards and Team of the Year cards for between $750 and $1000.

It's important to note that as of the time of writing, whether the seller is an employee of Electronic Arts has not been confirmed.

This is a developing story, and we'll continue to update it as new information emerges. We have reached out to EA for comment and will update this article if we hear more.

EA Gate: FIFA Ultimate Team Cards Allegedly Sold By EA Employee For Cash

As shared by longtime Ultimate Team trader @FutArcade on Twitter, a seller claims to be able to send the cards via a user's PSN ID or EA account.

#EAGATEA special thanks to @RiberaRibell for the picture , he did an amazing work❤️ (continue in the comments)#fut#fifapic.twitter.com/bJIg2rpWtI

— Arcade-Fut (@FutArcade)

March 10, 2021

It also appears many of the cards involved are untradeable, meaning players cannot then sell them on for coins.

While EA will undoubtedly act swiftly if this is found to be a verified employee, it opens somewhat of a can of worms for the publisher.

In recent enquiries into whether Ultimate Team packs qualify as gambling, EA has continually been quick to note that cards cannot be purchased with real money.

Many streamers have subsequently begun discussing the allegations, with @Nick28T saying "so we grind/trade/open packs and can’t touch these PIM players but EA employees sell them to people secretly for $1,700?!?!"

"LOL I respect the grind but my god..."

We have reached out to EA for comment and will update this article if we hear more.