Xbox One gamers across the globe are discovering that EA game demos are hit with a $4.99 pricetag, even if they were previously free. FIFA 14, which was released last year, and EA Sports UFC, which was made available last month, both feature the charge for the normally free downloads.
EA admits that the charge was due to an "error in the system" and has said that the games have been restored to free of charge. Various sources have confirmed that the paid demos were available in the USA, UK, and Australia.
An Australian EA representative told Polygon that the issue was due to a "system error" within EA and affected the Xbox Live market. It may be worth noting that the employee stated that if the error occurred on the PlayStation 4 store, it has also been resolved.
FIFA has proven to be hugely popular among gamers, in particular with the Xbox One, where the franchise and Microsoft partnered up to bundle the game with preordered consoles last year. Although technical errors are not uncommon, it"s a bit of a surprise to see gaming giant EA suffering from such issues.
Source: Polygon | Image via Microsoft