EA Sports and its massively popular FIFA franchise have been no stranger to controversy since the newest game in the long-running soccer franchise released a few months ago. Between the constant rumors falling around a potential split between the international soccer association and EA Sports and EA banning 30,000 players for exploiting a glitch in the game's Ultimate Team mode, there has been plenty to talk about with EA Sports' newest annual title. Now, EA Sports has come out once again to address a recent string of high-profile account hacks from some of the game's biggest spenders.

Before the release of FIFA 22, EA Sports had announced several changes coming to the popular 'Ultimate Team' game mode for the newest entry into the annual franchise. FIFA 21's Preview Packs allowing players to see a premium pack's content before buying were announced to be returning in FIFA 22 and several new mechanics as well as a new tournament format. In recent weeks, several reports have come out from high-profile Ultimate Team traders having their accounts compromised and, now, EA Sports has made an official statement addressing the hacks.

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Following reports of many notable traders having their accounts drained of FIFA Ultimate Team's in-game currency, EA Sports announced that an investigation was launched into the compromised accounts with the intent of returning the accounts to their rightful owners. EA attributed the reason behind the hacked accounts to "phishing techniques" and exploiting human error through the company's customer support services. The individuals in question were able to gain access to the accounts through EA's own official services, avoiding EA's two-factor authentication system altogether.

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Alongside the initial announcement of the investigation, EA Sports also stated plans to revise and improve the system designed to protect user accounts. EA announced that the company's in-house advisors and individuals who handle account security will be re-trained on account security and phishing on an individual basis. EA expressed that the concerted efforts to re-train its employees may affect wait times for the company's customer service, but re-affirmed the importance of the training to ensure account safety in the future.

EA Sports' relationship with FIFA has been a hot topic for the long-running franchise in recent months with the future of the football association's branding seemingly in limbo. EA Sports filed a trademark for "EA Sports FC" in October of last year, heavily implying that the franchise may be shedding the FIFA branding in future titles. While the company has been affiliated with the international association for nearly 30 years, FIFA was previously reported to be asking for $1 billion over four years to retain the FIFA title. The recent account controversy is just the latest obstacle in a rocky launch for the iconic gaming franchise.

FIFA 22 is available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Switch, and Stadia.

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Source: IGN