EA To "Investigate" Potential FIFA Stats Glitch

Over the weekend, players of FIFA 16 thought they might have found a glitch in the game's Ultimate Team mode that was failing to apply certain stats boosts to particular kinds of paid-for footballer cards. Now EA have commented to say they're looking into the issue.

In a post on the FIFA forums, community manager Rob Hodson wrote that:

Thanks to the FUT community for raising awareness of a potential fitness and chemistry inconsistency in some FUT items. After hearing this, our teams were in over the weekend and continue to thoroughly investigate the information. We will keep you informed with updates from the investigation.

Our commitment to a fun, fair and secure experience in FIFA is ongoing, and as a community your feedback helps us achieve that goal. A special thanks for your continuous efforts across all channels.

Which doesn't confirm that there is a problem, but confirms that EA are looking into player's concerns.

To briefly re-cover why this is relevant: FIFA Ultimate Team is the mode in which players can buy cards representing footballers using real money. They're like football stickers, except you can then play those footballers in your team during online matches. EA release multiple versions of those cards, including an "In form" version with higher stats for footballers who are playing well in the real world. It appears, if research by players is accurate, that those cards aren't then receiving further stats boosts from the game's Chemistry rating, which are a measure of how suitable players in your team are to play alongside one another.

In other words, players who have spent real money on the game - sometimes in the hundreds or thousands of pounds - might have not received what they paid for or at least what they thought they were paying for.

It's good that EA have acknowledged the concerns, given how often these kinds of things go unanswered, but it'll be all the more interesting to see the results of the development team's digging. It is possible, for example, that this is not a glitch at all but intended behaviour that has never been explained. Explaining it now to a frustrated audience of purchasers who feel duped might be difficult.