VPNs nearly broke EA FC 26 – here's how

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The now-patched technical glitch affected PC players

EA FC 26 logo displayed on a smartphone with the grass of a football pitch in the background
(Image credit: SOPA Images / Getty Images)

A VPN exploit left EA FC 26 players getting their hands on thousands of cheap FC points.

The technical glitch, which now appears to have been fixed, allowed PC players of the newly-released game to purchase in-game currency at heavily reduced prices.

Decimal Point Error

A Polish streamer demonstrated the glitch and news of the exploit quickly spread around Discord and Reddit.

PC players could connect to a VPN server – in the example case this was Indonesia – and then access the EA FC 26 web application.

The prices of FC points was then shown in Indonesian Rupiahs (Rp). 18,500 points were correctly listed as costing 2,034,000 Rp (~$121).

However when paying via Apple Pay, a decimal point error occurred and the user was charged 20,340 Rp (~$1.22). This meant hundreds of dollars – or in the user's case, Polish złoty – could be saved when purchasing points.

EA FC 26 players were concerned that PC users could take advantage of this glitch by purchasing thousands of points and using them to open packs, creating a greater chance at landing valuable players and items.

There were concerns the PC in-game market could suffer as a result of this exploit, but this didn't appear to be the case. Reports suggested player prices remained stable.

Black gaming keyboard, with the "WASD" keys highlighted

(Image credit: Muhannad Ajjan)

Reddit Reacts

The exploit sparked a range of reactions from players on Reddit. Some were declaring the game was "done" on PC, while others called it "fake outrage."

Unconfirmed reports from Reddit users suggest that the Apple Pay payment feature was disabled in Indonesia and the wider glitch had been fixed.

Blame was attributed to both EA and Apple, with one user calling it the "biggest mistake in EA history." It isn't clear whether the fault lies with Apple or EA and it isn't clear whether players who took advantage of the exploit will be punished.

Some Reddit users said players didn't do anything wrong but others hoped "EA would ban them."

Should you use a gaming VPN?

Using a VPN when gaming is a great way to protect yourself from DDoS attacks and accessing geo-locked content.

A gaming VPN can also help you avoid overloaded servers and even improve performance and latency, while reducing ISP throttling.

As mentioned above, using a VPN to gain an unfair advantage or cheating a game may violate the developer's terms of service – something you could be punished for.

But if you just want to improve your connection and protect your data when gaming, then using a VPN is absolutely fine. We rate NordVPN as the best gaming VPN for most people and you can grab a two-year plan for $3.09 per month.

Disclaimer

We test and review VPN services in the context of legal recreational uses. For example: 1. Accessing a service from another country (subject to the terms and conditions of that service). 2. Protecting your online security and strengthening your online privacy when abroad. We do not support or condone the illegal or malicious use of VPN services. Consuming pirated content that is paid-for is neither endorsed nor approved by Future Publishing.

George Phillips
George Phillips
Staff Writer

George is a Staff Writer at Tom's Guide, covering VPN, privacy, and cybersecurity news. He is especially interested in digital rights and censorship, and its interplay with politics. Outside of work, George is passionate about music, Star Wars, and Karate.

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