In what may be the greatest regional pricing difference in the history of videogames, Epic Games Store pre-purchases for FIFA 23 recently went on sale in India for 4.80 rupees. That comes to about $0.06 USD.
The price was an error, of course: FIFA 23 is meant to be priced at 3,499 Indian rupees (INR), which comes to about $44.17 in US dollars. That would make the accidental price a 99.86% discount, but it gets better. The erroneous price wasn't for the normal version of FIFA 23. It was for the Ultimate Edition, which costs 4,799 INR. That brings the discount to 99.98%, and everyone who took advantage of it will get to keep the game, according to an email from EA (which we saw via Sportskeeda).
"A few weeks back, we scored a pretty spectacular own-goal when we inadvertently offered FIFA 23 pre-purchase on the Epic Games Store at an incorrect price," EA wrote in the letter. "It was our mistake, and we wanted to let you know that we'll be honoring all pre-purchases made at that price."
An EA Sports representative confirmed to PC Gamer that the message is accurate. For the rest of us, there's good news and bad news when it comes to FIFA's pricing. The good news is that FIFA 23's PC version isn't the last-gen console version like FIFA 22 was. It's the same version appearing on PS5 and Xbox Series X/S, with the same trademarked features (the big one is "HyperMotion2 Technology" this time). The bad news is that we're also paying the current-gen console price: $70 in the US and £60 in the UK, the new normal for big multiplatform games.
In India, the price has also gone up between FIFA 22 and FIFA 23, from 2,999 to 3,499 INR for the standard version, and 4,299 to 4,799 INR for the Ultimate Edition. EA wouldn't say how many people scored the accidental 99.98% discount, but they've got to be feeling pretty good about it.
FIFA 23 happens to be the last EA FIFA game, at least for the time being, because EA Sports and FIFA are parting ways. EA will still make soccer games, but it'll be under the EA Sports FC name. Meanwhile, FIFA still plans for FIFA games to exist, but we're not sure yet how it's accomplishing that.
Unlike FIFA 23, the PC version of Madden NFL 23 will be the $60 last-gen console version. I'm not sure why that series is lagging behind on PC, but EA Sports told PC Gamer that it wants to create parity between the PC and current gen console versions of Madden in the future.
FIFA 23 releases on September 30. I wouldn't count on seeing any more 99.98% discounts before or after then, but I guess you never know. Black Friday deal?
