Electronic Arts (EA) has acknowledged that its pricing error for its Fifa 23 Ultimate Edition on India’s Epic Games shop, which cost 4.80 rupees ($0.06; £0.05), resulted in “a fairly spectacular own goal.”
After a decimal point miscalculation resulted in the game’s price being reduced online by 99.98% last month, buyers hurried to pre-order it.
Since then, the game publisher has agreed to honour the discounted pre-orders.
The bestselling football series will end with Fifa 23, the last title from EA Sports.
The sports division of EA stated earlier this year that it would discontinue producing games using the Fifa brand. The publisher will keep creating football video games, but starting in 2023 they will be released under the new name EA Sports FC.
EA and Fifa announced their 29-year partnership would end in May, with licencing fees listed as one of the factors in the publisher’s decision. According to Fifa, it intends to release its own competitive games.
The inclusion of women’s teams in the most recent version as well as this EA finale have added to the anticipation for the upcoming release.
Missing decimal point
Because they include bonuses like additional limited edition tradeable player items, more Fifa points, and access before the official launch, Fifa Ultimate Editions are often more expensive than ordinary editions of the game.
Priced at 4,800 rupees ($60/£50) in India, the 2023 edition is more expensive than the Standard Edition, which sells for 3,499 rupees ($44/£36).
Online users informed fans all across the world that the game could be purchased through the Epic Games India store for for 5p as word of the pricing error spread.
Bought fifa 23 ultimate edition in 5 Indian rupees 😂💪❤️ pic.twitter.com/1uP4s1rO5W
— Harsh (@MelloHarsh) July 20, 2022
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Twitter original tweet seen
Although the problem was promptly fixed, purchasers who had already made purchases were concerned that they may be cancelled or given a refund.
However, this week, EA Sports and Epic Games sent emails to customers informing them that the transactions will be honoured.
The Fifa team at EA Sports acknowledged “our mistake.”
The most popular version of the series was Fifa 22, and EA Sports announced shortly after its official release that 460 million matches had been played in the first week and 9.1 million players had joined the game.