As reported by Delo, the warehouse was full of consoles all grinding out FIFA 21‘s Ultimate Team to farm FUT coins and rare cards. The investigation is reportedly being continued, as EA’s terms of use prohibit the sale of accounts and cards. However, as is the case with any rare collectibles – virtual or otherwise – trading seems to be a regular occurence regardless.

Some of EA’s employees were also previously accosed of selling out rare FUT cards. The latest annual iteration of the soccer simulator, FIFA 22 has recently been revealed and is due out on 1st October for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, and Nintendo Switch(legacy edition).

The hackers are now threatening to release more of the stolen data, unless EA pays the requested ransom. The released data reportedly has references to tools related to the Origin storefront and The Sims. A spokeperson from the company believes that the stolen data doesn’t have anything to do with player privacy, hence the company isn’t planning on co-operating with the perpetrators.

EA is allegedly working with Federal law enforcement officials instead, to solve the issue. Another infamous hack at CD Projekt Red also took place earlier this year, with hackers claiming to have stolen source code of the Red Engine as well as internal documents. CD Projekt’s hacked data has reportedly been sold, following an auction for the same.

“You have full capability of exploiting on all EA services,” the hackers said on underground hacking forums. In the posts, which Waypoint obtained via screenshots from users who have access to the forums. In the posts, the hackers claimed to have stolen FIFA 21‘s source code, as well as the code for its matchmaking servers. They also claim to have the source code for the Frostbite engine, propriety EA frameworks, various software development kits (SDKs), and more. In all, the hackers claimed they had stolen more than 780 GB of data. They are currently trying to sell it. Whether they will have any luck doing so remains to be seen.

EA confirmed that the breach had occurred and that the hackers had in fact stolen what they claimed to. “We are investigating a recent incident of intrusion into our network where a limited amount of game source code and related tools were stolen,” EA said in a statement to Motherboard. “No player data was accessed, and we have no reason to believe there is any risk to player privacy. Following the incident, we’ve already made security improvements and do not expect an impact on our games or our business. We are actively working with law enforcement officials and other experts as part of this ongoing criminal investigation.”

Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales, which topped charts last week, is in fourth place. Biomutant, which debuted in second place last week, has fallen out of the top 10 to take No.16. Meanwhile, Sniper Ghost Warrior Contracts 2 has debuted in twelfth place, with 58% sales on PS4 and the rest on Xbox. 

Meanwhile, Resident Evil Village is in fifth place, Assassin’s Creed Valhalla takes No. 6, and The Last of Us Part 2 falls to No. 8. Minecraft’s Switch version, Miitopia, and Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury round out the rest of the top 10.

You can check out the full top 10 for the week ending June 5 below.

It’s a new month which means a new slate of titles for Xbox Game Pass subscribers. Microsoft already confirmed that Dragon Quest Builders 2 is out tomorrow for Xbox consoles and PC subscribers with content like the Aquarium Pack, Historic Headwear, Dragonlord’s Throne and more included. FIFA 21 also releases on May 6th via EA Play for Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and PC subscribers.

However, on the same day, Red Barrels’ Outlast 2 will also be available for consoles, cloud and PC. Cloud and console subscribers will also have access to Ubisoft’s Steep, an open world winter sports title. May 13th is when Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster becomes available for consoles and PC alongside Just Cause 4: Reloaded.

The original Psychonauts is also making its way to the service on the same day for cloud, console and PC subscribers. If that weren’t enough, Red Dead Online is out on the same day for consoles and the cloud along with Remnant: From the Ashes for PC subscribers. From May 15th onwards, numerous titles will be leaving Xbox Game Pass. This includes:

• Alan Wake (Console and PC)
• Battlefleet Gothic: Armada 2 (PC)
• Dungeon of the Endless (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• Final Fantasy 9 (Console and PC)
• Hotline Miami (PC)
• Plebby Quest: The Crusades (PC)

Play them now while you still have the chance. Stay tuned for more details on titles coming to Xbox Game Pass later this month.

Keeping abreast of what’s coming to and leaving Xbox Game Pass can be a bit difficult, but luckily Pure Xbox is here to do it. In addition to Second Extinction and Destroy All Humans!, which are coming to Game Pass later this week, we’re also starting to get an idea of what’s coming in May, though this list will undoubtedly see additions in the future, likely during the first week of May.

On May 4th, Dragon Quest Builders 2 will be coming to consoles, PCs, and the cloud. The Wild at Heart comes to consoles on May 20th, with dates for other platforms to be decided. Knockout City comes to the console version of Game Pass at launch on May 21st, and FIFA 21 comes to Game Pass via EA Play sometime during the month.

But games coming also means games leaving. This month, the list of games leaving that we know of are relatively small. So far, it’s just FIFA titles, with FIFA 15, FIFA 16, FIFA 17, and FIFA 18 all leaving EA Play (and Game Pass) on May 6th.

Knockout City is obviously the biggest get here, but the rest are no slouches. We’ll likely get a better of idea of how Game Pass will look in May in the next week or so.

EA’s focus on monetizing its games has been well-known across the industry for a long time now, and the company has often been accused (for very good reason, most of the time) of making that monetization more central to most of its operations than they should be, often at the cost of quality. Of course, the biggest revenue generator for EA is the loot boxes it sells in FIFA’s Ultimate Team mode year in year out, and a recent report arising from a leaked internal EA document alleged that the company is pushing players to spend more in the mode in several ways.

EA has now issued a statement in response to the reports, with the basic gist of it being that spending in FIFA is optional, and that the interpretations of the aforementioned leaked document are lacking in context, and that the contents of the document have been misrepresented.

“We seek every day to provide players with content choices that fuel their excitement and connection to the sport and their friends,” the company says. “Which is why we’re so disappointed in a recent media report about FUT which ignored important information and context, the result being a sensationalized story with a misrepresentation of the facts.”

“We do not ‘push’ people to spend in our games,” EA adds. “Where we provide that choice, we are very careful not to promote spending over earning in the game, and the majority of FIFA players never spend money on in-game items.”

In the statement, the company also writes that since Summer is often the most active time for FIFA Ultimate Team every year, EA often takes measures to increase player engagement, but not player spending, and that “nothing in the leaked document contradicts this in any way.”

Finally, EA has also stated that it doesn’t believe any aspect of FIFA Ultimate Team, including its loot boxes, amount to gambling, stating that many regulatory bodies in many countries agree with that assessment (although some, of course, disagree).

“We also firmly disagree that FIFA or any of our games involve gambling,” EA’s statement reads. “Regulators in multiple countries around the world have stated publicly that where there is no cashout method, loot boxes do not constitute gambling. We take great care to ensure that our games are played as designed, including by  taking action against those who violate our rules against trading outside the game. We do not believe there is merit in any of the recent litigation filed in the U.S. or Canada and are confident the courts will agree. Recently, a U.S. Federal Court judge dismissed a related case noting that “the lack of any real-world transferable value to items takes them outside” of the gambling laws. So again, supported by all of these perspectives from authorities, we do not believe any aspect of EA’s games constitutes gambling.”

The predatory nature of loot boxes and randomized real-money purchases in games has become a major topic of discussion for many in the industry, and many even outside it. Loot boxes as a concept have been viewed as being potentially dangerous for their addictive and random nature and have been likened to gambling, with many calling for outright bans. Belgium has outright declared loot boxes to be gambling and banned them, while other governing bodies in countries have also eyed the process.

The company that has engaged in these monetization practices the most is, of course, EA, to the extent that they’ve almost become synonymous with loot boxes at this point. In fact, a huge chunk of their business revolves around randomized purchases in Ultimate Team modes in their yearly sports titles (with FIFA being the biggest revenue generator). That wasn’t ever in any doubt, of course, but a new damning document has leaked in a report by CBC News, and suggests that that has very much become a central strategy for EA.

The document – a presentation made for internal purposes – mentions that EA is going “everything [it] can” to drive players to FIFA Ultimate Team. FUT is described as the “cornerstone” of the FIFA experience, with EA wanting to “funnel players towards” the mode, with everything from “active messaging” to “content teasers.” “All roads lead to FUT,” the 54-page document summarizes.

An EA spokesperson called the document “privileged and confidential” and said that the information presented within it is being “viewed without context”, and that any conclusions and interpretations are following as a result are “misinformed.”

“All EA games can be played without spending on in-game items, and the majority of players do not spend,” the EA rep added.

Within the industry itself, some have been taking steps to curb the randomized nature of loot boxes in video games. The ESRB has started including labels for games with randomized purchases, while platform holders have agreed on a policy to disclose loot box odds to players.

The latest UK sales charts for the week ending April 17th are available courtesy of Gfk. They revealed that EA Sports’ FIFA 21 is back on top, besting the likes of Animal Crossing: New Horizons and Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury to do so. The latter titles are still in second and third respectively though.

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is also in a cozy spot at fourth (it was declared the best-selling racing genre title in US history by The NPD Group last week). Minecraft on Switch is in fifth while Grand Theft Auto 5 is in sixth place. Monster Hunter Rise has dropped to seventh place despite a strong debut. Assassin’s Creed Valhalla hangs on in eighth place.

One of the more surprising developments this week is that Cyberpunk 2077 has re-entered the charts. Granted, it was at ninth place but it may be good news for the embattled FPS/RPG which faced numerous issues at launch and afterwards. It’s since received another major update which fixes several issues. Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War rounds out the chart at tenth place.

Check out the full UK top ten for the week ending April 17th 2021 below:

1. FIFA 21
2. Animal Crossing: New Horizons
3. Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury
4. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
5. Minecraft (Switch)
6. Grand Theft Auto V
7. Monster Hunter Rise
8. Assassin’s Creed Valhalla
9. Cyberpunk 2077
10. Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War

The latest UK weekly charts for physical video game sales are in (via GamesIndustry), and there’s been some interesting activity. People Can Fly and Square Enix’s new RPG shooter Outriders has gotten off to a solid start, debuting in sixth place. It saw 52% of its sales on the PS5, 31% on the PS4, and 17% on Xbox. It’s worth noting that the game is also available via Xbox Game Pass on Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S, which doubtless would have impact its total retail sales and Xbox figures.

Meanwhile, Monster Hunter Rise has also been enjoying incredible global sales since its launch, and debuted on top of the UK charts last week. This week, it has fallen to fourth place. Taking the top spot instead is FIFA 21, which saw an 81% week-over-week increase in sales.

A number of other games have also seen similar increases, in particular thanks to the Easter week sales. Animal Crossing: New Horizons (at No. 2) saw an 11% bump, Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury (No. 3) is u 16%, and Ring Fit Adventure has seen an impressive 127% increase to re-enter the top 10 at No. 7. Meanwhile, Super Mario 3D All-Stars’ limited run may have ended, but stocks are still available at some retailers, and the game occupies eighth place in the charts this week.

You can check out the full top 10 for the week ending April 3 below.

1. FIFA 21
2. Animal Crossing: New Horizons
3. Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury
4. Monster Hunter Rise
5. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
6. Outriders
7. Ring Fit Adventure
8. Super Mario 3D All-Stars
9. Assassin’s Creed Valhalla
10. Minecraft (Switch)