FIFA 15 is more popular in Europe than in North America, where Madden NFL is the key title. FIFA has always been the highlight of the year for the company in terms of sales; the soccer franchise accounted for 27% of the company’s net revenues and 23% of the company’s gross profits in 2013. With technological advancements, improved graphics, detailed visuals and new digital content features, the demand for FIFA has increased exponentially over the last five years. The number of FIFA units sold has almost doubled from 6.4 million in 2010 to 12.45 million in 2013. The game might be the definitive edition of Naughty Dog's magnum opus, but that does little for anyone who played the PS3 version last year. Similarly, the underwhelming release of Call of Duty: Ghosts brought the alpha nerd crowd into line with common gaming wisdom by reaffirming the truth that only making marginal, almost infinitesimal changes will eventually wear thin.
The FIFA Ultimate Team mode, also known as FUT, is now a staple mode in EA's FIFA series. You can buy cards with real money – just like in other EA sports games – that earn you players to help flesh out your team roster. It's the same sort of in-app purchases that pervades MMOs and it's quite a lucrative business for EA. In fact, Joystiq reports that last year EA made $380 million on the Ultimate Team modes alone. Basically, EA has turned $60 games into the equivalent of the MMO cash-cows you see spread across mobile devices and PC. Well, when you implement those kind of microtransactions into games it doesn't take long for botters and gold sellers to find a way to game the system and create a bustling gray market to profit as an in-between operating venue, providing players with a service for a publisher's game. EA, however, wants to crack down on bots that buy up player cards and sell them for coins, only to use the earnings to stockpile on an account and resell the coin packs at various coin seller websites.
.jpg)
Electronic Arts today rolled out the third title update for FIFA 15 across Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC. The update introduces new content such as players and kits, and addresses an assortment of issues, including improvements for cameras and tweaks that should improve overall stability. You can see the full patch notes below, courtesy of EA, and be sure to scroll down for details about a FIFA 15 patch for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions of the game. For balance, it’s important to state that EA’s hand has been forced somewhat by the growing number of prevalent Fifa-playing Youtubers who use their videos to promote sites offering to exchange Fifa currency for real money, at a fraction of the in-game cost. It’s the workaround being used by these YouTube stars that the company is trying to eliminate.
Points are a much more valuable form of currency. It costs 700 FIFA points (a little less than $7.99) to buy a "gold pack," the snazziest set of cards available on the game's marketplace, for instance, while the same pack would run you 35,000
fifa 15 coins. Money isn't just required to get players, either: you also need to spend coins to maintain the "contract" you have with any given player every time you put them out on the field. These contracts vary in price depending on the skill level and ranking of the player. The best way to earn coins, meanwhile, is by successfully completing matches or selling off players. Burke explained to me that he can usually get 500 coins for completing a match at this point.
The transaction behind illegitimate coin pruchases is relatively simple. A Fifa purchaser could amass 5,000,000 FIFA coins through clever manipulation of the transfer market over an extended period. The player could then agree to sell the haul to an online purchaser for £19.99. The purchaser sends the agreed sum via Paypal for “unspecified goods and services”, and then lists a FUT card with next-to-no-value – a League Two team’s away kit, for instance – on the in-game market for a Buy It Now price of £5,000,000. The rest of the world scoffs at such ridiculous pricing for something near worthless, leaving it free for the coin-seller to purchase. The two-way transaction is complete. And EA hasn’t seen a dime.
