Tim Latka is now waiving the purchase of FIFA Points

Pay2Win factor in Ultimate Team as a trigger

For several years now, most tournaments in FIFA Esports are played in the Ultimate Team game mode, in which you can create your dream team from all the players available in FIFA. Ultimate Team is by far the most popular game mode and inspires the community. The big problem: Those who invest real money gain an advantage. In-game purchases can be made with FIFA Points, a virtual currency. The more FIFA Points you invest, the faster you can get a top team. The Pay2Win factor is enormous.

Developments in recent years have shown: Investments in FIFA Points are getting bigger and bigger in order to be able to keep up with the competition in FIFA Esports and to avoid a disadvantage in the tournaments. A balanced starting situation for all players no longer exists. There is also the risk that fans of Esports athletes will adapt their purchasing behavior and also spend a lot of money.

Use reach to cause a rethink

In order to counteract this development and also to act as a role model, Schalke 04 FIFA pro Tim Latka has now decided not to buy FIFA Points with immediate effect. With this brave step, he accepts a major disadvantage in all Esports competitions in Ultimate Team.

It is more important for Latka to set an example in the community and, ideally, to get many other FIFA players to rethink. He will also use his reach in social media for this. With more than 200,000 YouTube subscribers, 60,000 Twitch followers and 50,000 subscribers on Instagram, the S04 player is one of the German FIFA pros with the greatest reach.

Schalke 04 Esports donates 2,000 euros to the Robert Enke Foundation

Latka will be one of the first Esports athletes to do without investing in FIFA Points. FC Schalke 04 Esports would have given him around 2,000 euros to build a competitive team. The club and the Esports athlete decided together not to make this investment and to go a different way from now on. Knowing that this significantly reduces the chances of success, the Royal Blues support their player unlimited.

„Success in Esports should not be defined by who spends the most money,“ explains Latka in his detailed statement: „I am aware that other Esports athletes now have significantly better chances of winning against me. But as FIFA pros we also have a responsibility to society. And now I perceive it. I am grateful that FC Schalke 04 Esports supports me in this. Surely not every club would have done that.“

S04 Esports will donate the 2,000 euros originally planned for the FIFA Points to the Robert Enke Foundation. The foundation supports projects, measures and institutions that provide information about heart diseases in children and depression and that serve to research or treat them. Already during a campaign in the previous season of the League of Legends European Championship (LEC), the Royal Blues drew attention to the issue of mental health. S04 Esports donated half of the proceeds from the black LEC jersey specially designed for the campaign to the Robert Enke Foundation.