FIFA 2022 Ones to Watch packs accidentally filled with normal players

FIFA 22 Ones to Watch packs have been temporarily paused due to an unintentional release.

FIFA 22 Ones to Watch cards are specially-branded cards that provide their associated players a boost if they perform well in their real-life domestic leagues, as determined by EA's Team of the Week squad. Lionel Messi, for example, tops the FIFA 22 ratings with an overall score of 93, but if he makes it into that squad, his Ones to Watch card will be upgraded by a point or two.

The system is supposed to be limited to some of the best players in the game, but FIFA 22 players who pre-emptively opened the pack they received as part of the game's pre-order bonus were finding that that wasn't always the case. Multiple players on the FIFA 22 subreddit say they received a rare gold card rather than an OTW card, revealing players whose ratings were in the low 80s. Not bad, but certainly not what players expected.

EA has now explained, however, that the error stems from the fact that players shouldn't have been able to open those packs yet. In a tweet earlier today, the developer told fans that "OTW pre-order Player Packs were unintentionally released prior to OTW player Items being in FIFA 22." Essentially, players could open their packs, but the OTW players they were expecting wouldn't be inside.

EA says it's temporarily prevented OTW packs from being opened while it investigates the issue, and confirmed that "players who opened their pack prior to OTW release will receive a new OTW pack in the coming days."

Even with the mistake, it looks like FIFA 22 is off to a better start than eFootball 2022.