Publisher Electronic Arts has hit back at a viral FIFA 21 Ultimate Team Twitter thread by insisting that a "lot of assumptions [are] being made in the calculations."
ScudzTV's Ultimate Team featured 11 'Icon' cards, including Brazil legend Pele and Dutch icon Johan Cruyff.
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However, the dream team would set back players a "mere 100 million" coins as the Twitch user broke down the cost of building it without using real-world money.
"You need to understand, the options you put in front of your community do NOT allow everyone to achieve whatever they desire in your game within reasonable limits," ScudzTV tweeted.
"You have put the high-end content behind an extreme paywall or an unachievable time wall."
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EA has now broken its silence and insisted that FIFA 21 players "don't need the highest-rated players in the game in order to win."
A spokesperson for the gaming company told The Daily Mirror: "We're aware there has been recent speculation on what it takes to have a great FIFA Ultimate Team in EA Sports FIFA.
"While we respect the effort and creativity to map out possible paths to greatness, we challenge the premise of these theories.
"There are a lot of assumptions being made in the calculations.
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"For example, you can't accurately calculate how many coins you would earn from trading as that would depend on your skill as a trader.
"There are also other aspects of the game that contribute to building your club such as SBCs, Objectives and Draft, which have to be accounted for as well."
According to EA, the franchise is based on "skill" and that is the most important "factor in the outcome of matches or challenges in FIFA."
The publisher added that players investments into their Ultimate Teams ultimately comes down to "choice," saying that there is "no one path to being successful" in FIFA.
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The EA spokesperson continued: "As importantly, FIFA is a game of skill.
"The skill of the player is the greatest factor in the outcome of matches or challenges in FIFA -- a strong player can be successful whether their team is bronze, silver, gold or a mixture of all three.
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"You don't need the highest-rated players in the game in order to win.
"In the real world, no football club has the world's highest-rated players in each of the 11 positions.
"While it's possible to field the 'top 11' in FUT if skilled enough with substantive time investment, it's certainly not intended or expected that players would field a squad like this.
"To say otherwise disrespects the many players who spend time learning and loving the game; mastering a skill move, set-pieces, timed finishing, pitch vision/passing lanes; working their craft; building/tearing down/rebuilding their team like so many managers, and working on the tactics to help them win.
"That's the magic and fun of the game for those players.
"Investment is a choice players can make, just like in the real world. Some teams build through investment, and that's a choice for owners, front offices and managers in real-world sports, just as it's a choice in EA Sports FIFA.
"If the premise here is that players want the best players in the world on their team so they can improve, compete online and play against the best, they can do that in FIFA for no additional investment -- you can play as Liverpool or Man City or PSG whenever you like.
"There's no one path to winning the league. There's no one path to the Champions League. There's no one path to the World Cup. And there is no one path to being successful in EA Sports FIFA.
"That's as it should be."
Ultimate Team has become a staple feature in the FIFA series as players build their dream XIs by earning coins or using real money to spend on packs.
FIFA 21 is available on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC and Google Stadia.
Featured Image Credit: YouTube/TwitterTopics: GAMING, FUT, EA, Electronic Arts, EA Sports, FIFA 21, Ultimate Team