First there was the “Deluxe” Edition. Then there was the “Ultimate” Edition. Now EA has revealed the “Ultimate Plus” Edition for EA Sports FC 27. It’s $150, more than twice the price of the base game, and it heralds an even pricier future for EA’s money-printing sports video game franchises, which are soon to be owned by Saudi Arabia.
The price tag is $50 more than that of the Grand Theft Auto VI Ultimate Edition, and $20 more than the Borderlands 4 Super Deluxe Edition. It is, in fact, exactly the same price as the EA Sports MVP Bundle for College Football. The difference is that the bundle includes an entire second game, Madden NFL, while the EA Sports FC Ultimate Plus Edition does not. What does the new version include?
Well, the offer is so complex that there’s an entire chart that aims to break it down for fans. The main thing you’re paying for is an additional four premium season passes valued at $10 each. The rest of the difference comes from bonuses that are tied into the soccer game’s gambling-infused “pay-to-compete” economy.
This includes 10,000 FC Points over 5 months, compared to 6,000 Points over 3 months for the regular Ultimate Edition. Big spenders also get a Hall of FUT Player Pick and boosts for the existing EA Sports FC 26 game while they wait for the August 31 Early Access launch of FC 27(the game goes live on September 6 for regular players).
This announcement comes just a week after EA College Football players revolted against the paywalling of mechanics to speed up progression. EA relented and made them available to everyone, but suggested that these options would remain locked behind microtransactions in future releases. “Our goal for live service plans in CFB28 and beyond will be to deliver valuable features and content with greater transparency and communication,” EA wrote in a statement earlier this month.
Meanwhile, EA’s sale to Saudi Arabia and a consortium of other private investors is set to close any day now. European Union regulators just gave the greenlight, and there’s no reason to expect any last-minute scrutiny from lawmakers in the U.S. The $55 billion leveraged buyout will require the Battlefield publisher to take on enormous debt. There’s been speculation that EA will lean on generative AI and mass layoffs in order to cut costs to help service that debt. The company is also aggressively exploring new ways to stick ads in its games.
Finding ways to effectively charge diehard sports fans double for their annual game of choice might be another.