Two weeks ago, we reported what we thought was a large cryptocurrency mining operation using PS4s in Ukraine, but it may not have been a cryptocurrency mining operation. change. In a recent report from Delo.au, the PS4s, in total over 3,800 of them, were used as FIFA bots.
Over 3,800 PS4 consoles have been used as FIFA bots to level accounts and earn in-game currency to purchase player card packs
The Delo.au journalists were keen to notice discs in the console tray, which would not be visible if these PS4s were used for mining. If we closely inspect the discs, you can barely make out the design of a FIFA 21 disc. This FIFA bot operation was discovered by Ukrainian officials because it illegally pulled 5-7 million UAH (converted to $ 184,000 to $ 258,000) of grid electricity.
Source: Delo.au
FIFA is one of the most popular video games in the world and is developed by EA with the latest version of the game being FIFA 21. The FIFA franchise is listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the best-selling sports video game series in the world. A popular mode in FIFA is the FIFA Ultimate Team (FUT) mode. FUT mode allows players to build their own squad with cards that can be acquired in two ways. The first is to buy card packs (loot boxes) which cost money and have an extremely low probability of getting good cards. Some countries like Belgium have banned this mechanic because it is comparable to the game.
The second way to get these cards is to spend time playing FUT mode matches to earn enough in-game currency to purchase these packs. Since these packs have a low probability of dropping a desirable player card, many packs must be opened and in order to get enough in-game currency, many hours must be played to get multiple packs. Players use cash to purchase these packs.
According to Daniel Ahmad, senior analyst at research firm Niko Partners, 30% of EA’s revenue is made on Ultimate Team (including Madden, NHL, and FIFA, but FIFA brings in the most money) and EA is expected to earn 1 , $ 62 billion from Ultimate Team in 2021. Below are the figures for the money Ultimate Team made in the three sports franchises.
How much does EA from Ultimate Team make on FIFA, Madden and NFL?
Ultimate Team EA Net Income:
Fiscal year 2021: $ 1.62 billion
Fiscal 2020: $ 1.49 billion
Fiscal 2019: $ 1.37 billion
Fiscal 2018: $ 1.18 billion
Fiscal 2017: $ 775 million
Fiscal year 2016: $ 660 million
Fiscal 2015: $ 587 millionThe majority are from FIFA Ultimate Team ofc. pic.twitter.com/xUbNUx6R62
– Daniel Ahmad (@ZhugeEX) May 26, 2021
The PS4s were probably used as bots to increase accounts and get enough in-game currency by constantly playing to buy packs. These accounts with rare players or with a lot of in-game currency were sold in account markets for players who wanted to open packs, but did not pay the high prices EA offered for their currency to buy packs. Even some EA employees took the opportunity to earn extra cash by selling rare player cards.
With the accounts market in FIFA, these Ukrainian FIFA kickers were making money by leveling the accounts and accumulating in-game currency and then selling the accounts. In the end, the enormous power consumption of 3,800 PS4 consoles caused the operation to stop.
