F1 24 players slam EA’s customization paywall as a ‘genuine scam’

F1 24 players have slammed developer EA for locking customization offers behind a premium currency, calling the decision a “genuine scam.”

The latest entry in the long-running franchise was released into early access on May 28. The full release of F1 24 is set for May 31, and already, the community is up in arms.

A player with early access to F1 24 posted on Reddit about the customization options, noting that there was only one available option by default for the race suit, gloves, helmet, pose, emote, and liveries—with the additional liveries shown in the screenshot being purchase bonuses.

Rather than having several default options to choose from when customizing a player in F1 24, your options are very restricted, and you instead have to purchase additional customizations using PitCoins—the game’s premium currency.

Though purchasing F1 24 gives you PitCoins as a bonus, with 18,000 PitCoins coming with the Champions Edition, any additional amount of the currency must be paid for—which is causing a stir in the community.

One player labelled the approach a “genuine scam,” while another said it was “embarrassing”—and plenty of other community members vented their frustrations, with the post attracting over 250 comments at the time of writing.

EA Sports’ approach to premium currency is a major sticking point for players across a variety of games, especially in the Ultimate Team modes of EA FC 24 and Madden 24, which is often deemed pay-to-win by players.

In those games, though, you need premium currency to buy packs to use in-game, whereas F1 24’s approach is purely cosmetic and doesn’t affect your on-track performance.