EA FC 24 players demand free TOTY Messi card after player pick SBC disaster

An 86-plus overall player pick SBC in EA FC 24 unintentionally gifted Team of The Year Lionel Messi cards to an absurd number of users—and community members want answers.

The EA FC 24 TOTY promo recently delivered a batch of game-changing cards that any player would love to have in their Ultimate Team’s starting 11. With the addition of women soccer stars to this title, there are 24 TOTY cards available on the market and in packs, as well as a small batch of Honorable Mention cards.

But players noticed their chances of getting a TOTY card in packs lowered when the full team launched. The Premium TOTY Pack odds went from four percent to 2.9 percent, and the Ultra Icebreaker Encore Pack dropped from 5.3 percent to 2.9. EA responded by raising pull rates but might have overcorrected in its calculations.

TOTY Messi glitch breaks FC 24

On Jan. 30, EA FC 24 added an 86-plus TOTY Leagues SBC that rewarded one of three players from 10 leagues. The catch is that Messi is the only 86-plus player from the MLS, meaning the only possible player you could get from that league was the 97 overall TOTY Messi card.

As a result, countless players were lucky enough to get Messi from the SBC, forcing EA to take action. Around 40 minutes after the SBC went live, EA said it “identified an issue with the 86+ TOTY Leagues SBC” and “disabled the SBC.”

Community members slammed the devs for not realizing the blunder earlier and argued it’s not fair players got a card worth over nine million coins so easily.

“Your stupidity and consistent incompetence is truly commendable,” EA FC 24 content creator NickRTFM said.

EA is left with a decision to either reward free TOTY Messi as compensation for the mistake or take away the cards from accounts that managed to get him.

“Yeah, the issue is you’ve just ruined the game. Free Messi TOTY for everyone imo,” FC 24 content creator Nepenthez said.

The last thing other players want is to go up against one of the best cards in Ultimate Team and be put at a distinct disadvantage. “The issue is you’ve screwed over the community who play your game again,” a third user added.

EA did not announce any plans for how the devs intend to compensate players or rectify the situation.