Cover stars boycott EA games over microtransactions as devs confirm 'we missed the mark'

With a notorious reputation for adding 'RNG' microtransactions in their sports games like FC27 Ultimate Team, often skirting on the border of gambling laws, EA has landed in hot water as its latest game has launched to 'mostly negative' reviews and a boycott from sponsored athletes.

It's the bane of any live-service game, as developers want to be rewarded for their efforts of constantly releasing new content, beyond the base price tag.

But microtransactions are a controversial trope that has been highlighted in causing the downfall of franchises like Call of Duty.

Even the upcoming Grand Theft Auto VI release is being met with caution over an expected bucketful of paid additions, having already toyed around with a bogus 'VIP' system.

But the latest game to rile fans up with a paid progression system is College Football 27, the semi-professional Madden alternative, as the American football game has licensed athletes reneging on their partnerships over the use of microtransactions.

College Football 27 athletes launched boycott over microtransactions

Launched on July 9, College Football 27 (CFB27) was met with 'mostly negative' reviews on Steam as the third instalment of the franchise added a paid progression system to its modes Road to Glory and Online Dynasty.

The review bombing was based on the claim that these modes didn't have aggressive pay-to-win microtransactions in them before, and have been silently added this year.

Believing that they have been 'sneaked' in, athletes like Oregon quarterback Dante Moore, who features on the cover of the game, took to social media to say that he is pulling out of a partnership with EA.

"I have decided to opt out of EA College Football 27 until microtransactions are removed. #CDBPlayDontPay," Moore wrote on his Instagram story.

This sentiment was echoed by fellow CFB27 cover stars Malachi Toney (Miami wide receiver) and Kewan Lacy (Ole Miss running back), who continued the hashtag.

The protest soon turned into an online boycott, prompting EA to take drastic action.

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EA Sports responds by removing paid progression system

After the athletes and fans of the game all launched their game, EA quickly announced that they 'missed the mark' and will be removing the paid features quickly.

"In College Football 27, we aspired to deliver the deepest experience to date with all-new Dynasty Blueprint, new positions in Road to Glory, and the best College Football gameplay yet," the statement reads.

"However, 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.

"Tomorrow morning, we will remove all paid progression options from Road to Glory and Online Dynasty."

The caveat here is that any players who have already built up College Point balances with the intention of using them in these game modes will only have today to get them spent.

The sport-simulating developers have had a long and storied controversial relationship with pay-to-win features, with the former EA CEO saying that studios that are not 'obsessed' with microtransactions are 'f***ing idiots.'

This time, the protest seems to have worked, though, and College Football 27 will continue to be an even playing field.