With the recent new of cross play testing in FIFA 22, you may find a lot of people rejoicing, it is something that fans of the franchise have been calling for, for quite some time. However, this simple feature could be the very thing that breaks cheating and hacking to the table in FIFA!
It is ignorant of me to say that cross play will bring cheating to FIFA really, because the problem does already exist on PC. There is a way for PC players (using a 3rd party software) to cause a match to end abruptly. This might not seem like anything new to console players as connection issues are a major problem on all platforms. The main difference with the issue I am addressing here is that when this forced end of the game happens through the malicious software, the person using the software is awarded the win and the victim receives a loss.
While this seems to be mostly limited to draft matches, it is unclear whether that is purely down to the earning potential of drafts or whether it is a feature that is only useable in drafts. Either way, with cross play enabled, this problem would quickly become as apparent on console as it is on PC.
The wider issue is that with this “cheat” available, it gives us an indication that it is possible to develop cheats that work to manipulate FIFA in favour of the cheater. It is possible that we don’t see more heinous cheats because FIFA on PC has a very limited player base, meaning the market for cheats would be much smaller than games such as Warzone, Fortnite or Apex Legends which all have a plethora of cheats available on PC.
For the time being cross play is limited to Online Seasons and Online Friendlies, which will come as a short-term relief to anyone worried about the future of cheating in FUT, however I wouldn’t advise being too comfortable. With FUT being by far the biggest game mode in terms of player base and profitability for EA, this testing is almost certainly being done with a view to implement cross play in FUT and expand the revenue created by the game mode, and we could quite possibly see cross play and, maybe even a universal transfer market in FIFA 23.
This news is worrying, as cross play implementation in most games has lead to a huge increase in cheating and a massive decrease in enjoyment as a direct effect, we can hope that FIFA does not become the next title to endure a Warzone style plague of cheating, but with the popularity of the game and the money involved in the Ultimate Team game mode, I would be very shocked if cheat developers don’t find a way to infiltrate the game and set up a market within its community.
If we hear any further news on cross play expanding into other game modes, or if we hear any news on how the cheat developers react to the opening of a new potential cheating market, we will be sure to keep you updated here on BBBGN!
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