EA Sports has announced that it has removed the CFB 27 microtransaction system that people hated from the get-go. In a statement, EA said, “We will remove all paid progression options from Road to Glory and Online dynasty.”
For anyone just catching up, CFB 27 launched with a microtransaction system that allowed players to pay real money to instantly improve their coach or athlete in the Online Dynasty and Road to Glory modes. Alternatively, players could grind for this, but the effort would be substantial.
It’s also notable because Online Dynasty and Road to Glory were two modes that were largely untouched by microtransactions until this year. People mobilized a boycott of the pay-to-level options, and the #CFBPlayDontPay hashtag trended on social media. People on Reddit also said they would skip the game because this new in-game-purchase scheme has rubbed them the wrong way.
EA said an “unfortunate side effect” of the removal of paid progression in the two modes is that some people will be left with a College Point balance and this balance cannot be applied to Road to Glory or Online Dynasty because of the removal of the paid progression systems. Unspent College Points can be spent in Ultimate Team or other elements of the game, however.
EA communicated the change to players on the evening of July 10, with the removal of the paid progression system being implemented on the morning of July 11. EA encouraged people to spend the points while they could, but there was not much time to do so.
“Your feedback on Road to Glory and Dynasty is that we’ve missed the mark with the introduction of paid progression options. This was added independent of deeper mode progression with the aim to give players more choice, but what you’ve said is that they’re not adding the value we intended,” EA said.
Also in the statement, EA said it will attempt to provide “greater transparency and communication” with the live-service plans for next year’s game, CFB 28.
“We love this game. We love this community. We love college football,” EA said.
While the paid progression microtransactions are now gone from CFB 27, the game still has microtransactions for the popular Ultimate Team mode. EA sells points in bundles that range from $5 to $150.
EA has offered paid progression systems before, as multiple Battlefield games have offered plays “Shortcut” bundles that instantly unlock all weapons, gadgets, and vehicle upgrades without having to grind to unlock them.
EA is in the process of selling itself to a group of investors led by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund. The $55 billion deal is structured as a leverage buyout (LBO), and it’s the largest LBO in history for any market category. The deal comes with billions in debt, and many believe EA will make massive cuts to service the debt.