Electronic Arts was trying to promote their first big tournament for FIFA 20, but the e-sports endeavor hit a rather major snag when it turned out that up to 1,600 registrants had their registration data leaked.
GamesIndustry.biz noted some of the users who complained about the issue that allowed them to see the personal data of other registrants, while others alerted the general public to the fact that the data had been leaked.
The chatter spread across Twitter pretty quickly, like a California wildfire during the dry summer heat.
I am suing
— Kurt (@Kurt0411Fifa) October 3, 2019
My friend got a big pull in the Data Breach pack, Hashtag’s own Algerian Arrow, @YaniOurabah.
We’ll send you a birthday card.
What a mess. pic.twitter.com/IYMT1ieq4g
— George Hughes (@GeorgeHughes) October 3, 2019
So I’m guessing I was affected by personal data leak from @EA? This is an absolute shambles.#FIFA20 @EAHelp pic.twitter.com/7jsEZUQ6HM
— JREXX (@JIMMYJREXX) October 3, 2019
The incident was also covered by YouTuber YongYea.
Electronic Arts – after being notified about the identity breach – proceeded to assuage some of the concern by making a tweet informing the public that they took down the registration page while investigating the complaints.
We’re aware of a potential issue affecting the registration page for the EA SPORTS FIFA 20 Global Series that went live earlier today. We take these matters seriously, and we immediately took down the page while we investigate the matter. We’ll share updates as soon as possible.
— EA SPORTS FIFA (@EASPORTSFIFA) October 3, 2019
They also released a statement to the press, with GamesIndustry.biz posting it in full, where it reads…
“”At approximately 1 p.m. UK Time, we announced the registration portal page for the EA SPORTS FIFA 20 Global Series. Shortly after, we learned that some players trying to register were seeing the information of other players who had already signed-up through the registration page. We immediately took action to shut down the site by 1:30 p.m. UK Time. We were able to root cause the issue and implement a fix to be clear that information is protected. We’re confident that players will not see the same issue going forward.
“We’ve determined that approximately 1,600 players were potentially affected by this issue, and we are taking steps to contact those competitors with more details and protect their EA accounts. Player privacy and security are of the utmost importance to us, and we deeply apologize that our players encountered this issue today.
“Registration will re-open in the coming days, and we will notify the community on the @EASPORTSFIFA and @EAFIFAesports Twitter handles when it’s live.”
This isn’t even discussing the loot box and microtransaction issues that plague FIFA 20, as detailed in a video by Vera Dark.
Unfortunately a lot of people will still justify their support for Electronic Arts and the FIFA brand, even with their data being leaked and their wallets being fleeced, but that’s all part and parcel for today’s corporatocracy-ruled society.
(Thanks for the news tip Maverick HL)
