The specifics of EA Gate came to light when a Twitter user by the name of Arcade-FC 25 Ultimate Team posted a number of screenshots of a message thread in which a customer and EA employee discussed pricing for acquiring FC 25 Coins Team of the Year and ICONS cards, which are highly valued due to their rarity.

According to one image, this activity has been going on for years, as a message in Spanish revealed that it was an employee at EA Germany selling the cards with the assistance of two intermediaries and had been doing so for “at least three years that I know of.” This employee apparently needed only the buyer‘s EA or PSN ID in order to complete the transaction.

While an employee illicitly selling FIFA 25 Ultimate Team cards is understandably upsetting to many people, it draws attention to a situation that is perhaps more problematic. FIFA card packs and loot boxes have long been a contentious aspect of the video game series, so much so that government officials have launched investigations in various countries into the practice and questioned whether it counts as gambling.

In recent years, an increasing number of stories have surfaced of players spending hundreds if not thousands of dollars on loot boxes, not just in EA games but in other titles as well. The fact that a number of people consider it less expensive to spend $1000-2500 to purchase FIFA 25 card packs under the table through this EA employee speaks volumes about their faith in the likelihood of obtaining these items legitimately.

The ongoing controversy surrounding what FIFA fans are calling "EA Gate" continues to grow. EA has now responded to accusations that official accounts were being used to sell rare, high-value FIFA Ultimate Team items for thousands of dollars. As its investigation begins, EA has also made an immediate decision to suspend the practice of rewarding discretionary items indefinitely. That's unlikely to sate frustrations within the cheap EAFC 25 Coins community, but it's a start.