FIFA 21 PS5 PlayStation 5 1
Image: Security Service of Ukraine

The police in Ukraine have raided a warehouse filled with 3,800 PlayStation 4 consoles, which it originally believed to be a cryptocurrency mining farm. It turns out, the undercover operation was instead grinding FIFA Ultimate Team, and selling accounts loaded with virtual currency and rare player cards.

The pictures – as shared by the Security Service of Ukraine and probed by newspaper Delo – paint an extraordinary scene, with racks upon racks of PS4 systems, some with FIFA 21 game discs sticking out of them. While the police have yet to comment on the investigation – it’s still ongoing, of course – the insinuation is that the consoles were running bots to grind out EA Sports’ soccer sim.

Buying and selling FIFA accounts is technically against the game’s terms of service, and the publisher has been on a crusade against the FUT Coins black market for some years now. Nevertheless, it’s a large and potentially lucrative business, so it’s no surprise to see operations like this uncovered. We wonder what kind of profits this organisation was turning over.

[source ssu.gov.ua, via delo.ua, eurogamer.net]