As of May 22nd, there have been dozens of tweets and Reddit posts from users complaining that several games from their EA App library are missing including FIFA. They have received an error report saying that the games are currently unavailable, even though they have been purchased.
Several games from their biggest franchises, such as Battlefield and Dead Space have also been affected. This isn’t the first time this has happened, as this seems to be a regular glitch for a few users. But this one seems to be the biggest in a long time, affecting the most number of users.
EA App Seems to Be Glitching for a Lot of Users, Taking Away Their Games Including FIFA
The library issue seems to only occur to users of the EA App, which was formerly known as EA Origin. It is a marketplace for all Electronic Arts games, just like the Rockstar Games Launcher is for Rockstar’s games.
EA just robbed all my games for no reason pic.twitter.com/30xbxLQMbK
— Jusuf Vrtáčková (@12845l) May 22, 2024
This has left many players frustrated. Even though they’ve bought these games, they’re finding themselves locked out. This issue also reignites the ongoing debate about what it means to own a digital game and how much control players actually have over their digital purchases.
We fixed the issue with EA services on PC. Log out and log back in to access your games. Thanks for sticking with us!
— EA Help (@EAHelp) May 22, 2024
The official EA Help account has responded to users on Twitter, saying that the issue can be fixed by just logging out and then logging back in, but plenty of users argue that the problem still persists. This has actually been a common issue for almost a decade now.
These issues have been encountered by players dating back to the early 2010s, back when it was called EA Origins. Why this issue still exists, is anyone’s best guess. Other digital storefronts never experience quite as many of these issues as EA’s.
The Topic of Digital Ownership Is More Relevant Than Ever
The core of the problem lies in the concept of digital ownership. When you buy a game online, you might actually be purchasing a license to play it, not owning the game outright. This means that Electronic Arts can remove the game from your account, even though you paid for it.
This situation is stirring up a lot of anger among players who feel cheated. Ubisoft has also done similar things recently, like delisting The Crew, which was shut down on March 31, 2024. The servers of the game were shut down, and players could not play even the single-player, offline modes of the game.
There’s also a significant concern about preserving these games. Older games like the original Dead Space Trilogy might not have physical copies available everywhere, so if the digital version disappears, it’s lost for good.
The fact that companies can just shut down games, even those that aren’t even that old (The Crew released in 2014), is truly baffling, and highlights why physical media is important. But even with physical games, the only way to make sure they can be played for decades to come, is if they don’t have a mandatory online-always requirement.
What are your thoughts as player lose their EA games? Let us know in the comments below!
