Early Wednesday morning, numerous Twitter users have claimed that an alleged EA employee is selling FIFA 21 Icon and Team of the Year cards online for a huge amount of real money, spawning the trending #EAGate hashtag.

#EAGate on Twitter

WindowsCentral detailed that there have been reports spreading all over Twitter about an alleged EA employee selling FIFA 21 game cards in exchange for money. Many Twitter users have posted a couple of screenshot transactions from the alleged EA staff.

Apparently, the FIFA 21 players would purchase FIFA Ultimate Team Icon and Team of the Year cards from the seller, offering the said cards for over $1,000 worth of real money. In fact, some said other transactions cost as much as $2,500.

In the screenshot messages, the alleged EA employee explained to the potential customer that they are paying thousands of dollars to list valuable Icon Moments cards to their account such as Ruud Gullit and Cristiano Ronaldo, so they can then be bought with in-game currency. The "FIFA 21" card exchange incident has been dubbed as the #EAGate on Twitter.

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Twitter users explained further that the packs the accused EA staff is selling are available in two versions: one containing three Icon cards for $893 and one with three Icons and two TOTY cards worth $1,191. Also, the seller is said to be offering to use the customer's PlayStation ID, or EA ID, to directly add the packs to their in-game account of FIFA 21, as Video Games Chronicle reported.

Normally, FIFA 21 players would acquire the said cards by trading cards between game players or purchasing loot packs. To note, Icon Moment and Team of the Year cards in FIFA 21 are extremely rare since its competitive stats are some of the best in the game that players always want to seek out.

For those who are oblivious to the cards, FIFA 21's card system can boost a player's team roster, giving players Legendary Football characters that range from Pele and Maradona to Kenny Dalglish and Eric Cantona. Icon Moment Cards are one of the rarest versions of these Icon cards. Meanwhile, TOTY Cards are a special group of cards released in January and contained the best players from 2020 and features a heavy boost for the player's stats.

EA Investigation #EAGate

In an EA statement posted on Twitter, the game developers stated that it is aware of the current situation circulating within the company's community concerning the FIFA 21 Ultimate Team Cards and an investigation is also underway.

EA added that the company would take swift action once they identify the culprit and warned that this behavior is unacceptable. The company does not condone this kind of transaction. IGN has contacted the game developers and has received the same statement published on the social media platform, assuring readers that the publication will have an update when the FIFA 21 developers conclude its investigation.

It is still uncertain what EA can do to cut the illegal transactions in the online black market and the game developers' plans to make sure that this kind of behavior will not happen again in the future.

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