EA's Ultimate Team game mode made 29% of the company's 2020 revenue across the FIFA, Madden and NHL games.

According to Daniel Ahmad, an analyst for market research firm Niko Partners, EA's Ultimate Team made $1.62 billion in revenue. Ahmad's tweet also highlighted the growth of Ultimate Team in FIFA since the game mode was first introduced in 2015. Six years ago, Ultimate Team brought in $587 million, roughly a third of the amount brought in over the 2021 financial year.

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While that $1.62 billion is spread across three of EA's sports franchises that incorporate a version of Ultimate Team, FIFA was the highest earner. In its 2021 SEC filing, EA notes that FIFA contributed a "substantial portion" to the total Ultimate Team revenue stream. It also reveals that Ultimate Team is the company's most popular live service.

Ultimate Team is a free game mode included with most of EA's sports franchises. Taking the form of a card game, players can purchase packs using earnable in-game currency or through microtransactions. These packs contain football players from teams around the world; once enough team members have been "collected" players can take their custom team and challenge opponents from around the world for a variety of rewards.

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Earlier this year, FIFA Ultimate Team came under fire due to allegations that an employee within EA was selling rare and highly sought-after cards to players. EA launched an investigation into the matter and uncovered what it called "questionable activities." While the employee in question was punished and the sold cards were removed from the player's account, the so-called #EAGATE has soured many players on the game mode.

FIFA Ultimate Team is also at the heart of the ongoing investigation into the practice of loot boxes in video games. Deemed gambling by several countries, including the United Kingdom Germany, Ultimate Team has often been cited as one of the more egregious forms of loot box systems.

While EA has yet to confirm anything, it's highly likely that the 2021 installments of FIFA, Madden and NHL will all include some form of Ultimate Team.

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Source: Twitter, EA