I feel for the support team...

[nastiteg97]

First of all I want to make it clear that I feel for the EA support staff. I can only imagine the types of calls they receive from frustrated customers about how EA conducts its business practices. Thank you support for staying patient with the customers as we reach the end of our patience with ridiculous issues we shouldn't have to face.

Now onto my issue(s). I say it that way because I see my issue is actually two parts. One is how games are managed and tied together through various platforms and the other is the support of "cross-save" or "cross-progression" as it relates to how that progression is achieved and managed under an account.

So my first question is, what is the point of tying your various platforms together if games and their progression don't follow. I haven't had this issue with any other platform EXCEPT when Destiny came to Steam during the break-up between Activision and Bungie. However, the difference here is that, given the circumstances, they offered a one time transfer of progression if you were going over to PC, and this perhaps only impacted PC players as they were dependent on Steam for access to the game.

Using that same example, now have a different perspective on which should come first for older games that are still popular, cross-save / cross-progression or cross play. I used to think cross play, because I'm a PC gamer over console gaming. My son, however, is like most kids. Controllers and using a console on a big TV is more fun for them, for whatever reason. However, I do like playing with him on several games.

Fast forward to 2021 and the struggle to get either a PS5 or an Xbox Series X, the struggle is real. My PS4 was dying, and I don't see the point in paying Sony for a refurbished PS4 just to eventually get my hands on one console or another. Finally last week I managed to get my hands on an Xbox Series X, so I'm in the process of moving his games over by tying his Xbox account to his existing PS4 accounts that are all tied to the specific platform they originated on.

Obviously since I'm on this forum you can safely assume which platform I had issues with. You guessed it, EA/Origin.

I have spent HUNDREDS of dollars over the course of 2 years on Apex for him. Now I'm faced with linking his accounts because his PS4 died and guess what, you can't... All of his progression and all of my money is GONE! In the pockets of Sony and EA. When contacting EA support to try to leverage some sort of help, and maybe tug on some heart strings, nothing. They don't care. They tell me I have to work with Sony on the recent purchase for the season 9 pass on Apex. Ok, why? I mean I understand the money passed through Sony, but the funds were applied to the Apex game. So you made your money, right? This method of laundering money through one platform or another to avoid responsibility that you took my money and won't give me what I paid for should be ILLEGAL!

Yes, that is correct, they made money. However, too bad. No interest in compromise either. I suggested just a one time credit to allow him to get the season pass on the Xbox account for this season since we just purchased it on his PS account a couple of weeks ago. Nope, can't do it. Thanks for all your money, though. Go ahead and buy it again, even though the season is well underway and he is already behind in progress. It is unlikely he will make it through the season and hit all 100+ levels, but we would be happy for you to buy another season pass while we toss your PS account and investments in the garbage. 

Thanks, but no thanks. No sympathy for legitimate issues like mine is a sign that there is no interest in anything other than your open wallet to dump more money into their open bank accounts. If I were interested in wasting my money, more than I already do on things that are not real like video games, I would rather burn it or flush it down the toilet. EA does not care about it's customers. They only care about you spending your money.

Thank you for absolutely nothing EA. Thank you for tossing my money and my son's investment of his time into your game in the trash. I can promise you I will not spend another penny with EA. I'm worried what the future holds for Steam as well now that the whole connection with EA is there. I haven't had time to wrap my head around that, but I'm sure it will be more of a money pit as well.

This entire experience has really forced me to rethink my investment of time and money into games. I guess that is the silver lining here. It is sad such a disinterest this company has into understanding their customers in favor of profits is taking what should be a fun and pleasurable experience and turning it into a real crappy one. I'm sure while I sit here saying I won't spend another penny, the big wigs over there are laughing because where they lose one customer they sucker thousands more into spending money.

Thanks for nothing EA!

Sincerely,

-Sean

[EA_Mako]

Hey Sean,

While a lot of games across the industry are moving towards cross-progression, that's still currently by and large an individual development decision made per game. It's certainly more common now than it was even just a few years ago, and many games that have launched more recently (such as Knockout City) do support cross-progression right out of the gate.

That's something that is easier to do when it's prioritized during the initial development and release of a game, as systems would need to be in place to make sure that progress is saved when you hop over to a new platform. Once a game has already been launched on different platforms, it gets more complicated (though not impossible) to address different profiles that have different levels of earned content.

That's about where Apex is at now, roughly speaking. Cross-play was added to the game after launch, and cross-progression is something that's actively being worked on as well. 

These are a few comments the Apex Game Director has made in various AMA sessions on Reddit recently. The first from a few months back, and the second just after the launch of Season 9 a few weeks ago. Progress is being made, but we're not there just yet.

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I wouldn't ever say something is not possible, but it's certainly more challenging to add cross-progression to a game that's been out for 2 years. A lot of people have accounts on various platforms and trying to figure out the best way to pick or merge the account data is a challenge with many pros and cons. We're certainly looking into cross-progression and it's something that I think would be great for the game, but it's still a ways off most likely.

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I can't provide you any update other than we want to do it, and we're working on it. Once I have more information about a release date, we certainly won't hold the information back because we know how important it is to our community.

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Until that time however, purchases made in-game go through their specific platform storefronts. If you purchased a Battle Pass on PS4, that was purchased for the PS4 version of the game, and you'll have access to that unless you work with Sony to refund said purchase. As we do not have access to the billing systems of another company, that's not a situation where we can issue refunds or credits for various platforms that are, at this point, still not connected in terms of cross-progression.

I completely understand there's a lot of content built up over time on a particular platform here and it's frustrating not to have access to it when you switch to a new platform. I get where you're coming from here, and hopefully this adds a bit more context for you. This is important, but adding it into an existing game takes time and we want to be sure it's done right. Thanks for the feedback here!

[nastiteg97]

@EA_Mako Thank you for your response. I understand cross save and cross progression is a developer decision, but Apex is a game offered through EA and my simple ask was to at least grant my account with the season pass since he literally just got it. However there was zero understanding or concern for my specific situation. Again, I just purchased the pass for him maybe 2 weeks before the PS4 died.

I get that is a personal issue, but given the money spent on the other account and the recent purchase the least EA could do is provide some sort of credit given that my investment in the Xbox is allowing him to continue playing games like Apex, which you are surely to continue profiting from.

Lastly, after steaming over this situation I'm reminded of a situation I ran into once with Battlefield 3 and EA did a one time merge of that account for me. Basically I had an account I played BF on. Stopped playing it for a long time, then decided to play the next BF. Couldn't remember, for the life of me, what the login info was. Then one day I ran into an issue where something was tied to the other account and I needed to sort it out. Somehow that lead to merging the accounts and deleting the old one. Is that at all possible here? If not, any chance EA could show some love for the passing of my PS4 and the loss of my 2 week old investment in the season pass for Apex by giving me some credit to open up the pass on the "new" account?

[nastiteg97]

@EA_Mako I responded to my feedback request on my most recent support ticket, but I wanted to continue sharing my thoughts, opinions and overall feelings on this issue by sharing that feedback here as well.

Based on the previous quick response, followed by silence toward my response back, I assume this will fall of def ears. However, I will try in hopes of sharing my experience with other customers EA squeezes money out of each and every day.

My response to the feedback request:

"It is not the fault of the advisor, but rather the policy and overall lack of concern EA instructs it's support staff to provide. With people stuck at home and turning to playing games at a constant rise while people look for other forms of entertainment, it is sad to see EA continue to squeeze the money of of it's customers. I get that people will find ways to try to cheat the system and get free things, but EA should do a better job of understanding unique situations some of it's customers find themselves in sometimes.

If someone actually reads this and cares to reach out I can be contacted at sean@<removed for privacy>.com. The issue I'm facing cannot be unique and the experience looking for help and understanding has been a disappointing one.

My household consists of two gamers, myself and my son. I invest in both platforms we game on. We enjoy playing games with each other as well. Unfortunately not all games that EA sells on it's storefront play well with cross save or cross progression, which has lead me to potentially losing my son's character I have invested TONS of money into over the years after my son's PS4 died. With the current PS5 and Xbox Series X shortages I ended up getting an Xbox Series X first since it was the first successful attempt I made at purchasing one or the other. Now my son cannot access that character on the Xbox account that he has worked on with his PS4 account.

I know for some games EA can do a one time transfer of accounts because I once had an unrelated issue with having two separate accounts when I played Battlefield 3. I was simply trying to access one of the two accounts for some reason, and once the issue was understood by the advisor I worked with at the time for that account somehow they were able to merge the accounts. This was not my goal in contacting them, but it fixed my issue. Why can't EA do this now? At the time it was a good solution to my issue and was not my expectation that they merge the accounts at all, as it was my choice to start a different account at the time when I lost access to my original one.

If it isn't possible to merge accounts it would be nice to talk to someone about the possibility for other options to find some sort of compromise. Before the PS4 died I had just purchased the season pass for Apex and now that money is lost too. Although it isn't EA's fault directly, you choose to sell and profit from a game that does not support cross save. I will accept that it was my choice to invest in a game that doesn't support cross save, but I didn't decide when my PS4 would die and it isn't my fault it is next to impossible to get my hands on a PS5. The death of the PS4 happened suddenly.

Given that my issue is two fold, one is that I lost all his progression because of the loss of his PS4 and two because I paid for a season pass he now cannot use. EA took my money, but I didn't get what I paid for. This sort of money laundering through the different platforms should be illegal as you profit form the sale of the game, but take zero responsibility when an unexpected issue removes a customers ability to use the items they paid for. I did not get my monies worth! All I'm looking for is some understanding and sympathy here and looking to EA for anything they can do for not just myself, but for my son. How you treat him and I will surely stay with him for years to come. You have the opportunity to set a good example for a soon-to-be teenager who will surely play games for years to come.

As a company that makes MILLIONS of dollars off of people like myself who have children and a personal interest in gaming, the least EA can do is try to do something for myself and my son to transfer or provide access to the season pass on the account he is forced to start over with. Telling me too bad is extremely petty and cheap for a company that thrives off of people like me, who have children and also game personally."

Thank you,
-Sean

[EA_Mako]

Hey Sean,

Thanks for the additional followup here. I was off for the day by the time that was previously posted and am just getting around to checking some of these prior posts today.

I can absolutely see where you're coming from here, and to be honest it's not going to be up to anyone in support to make a unilateral decision that affects an entire playerbase. By this, I mean that if we had the tools to do what you're requesting, it'd only be fair and right to give everyone this same treatment. You're absolutely right that this is not a unique situation, as there are others out there who have switched platforms either by choice or out of necessity and no longer have access to the progress they made on the old platform.

Just to be clear, this situation is due to current technical limitations which are actively being worked on, not a lack of desire to help out. There is not a way to manually copy or transfer progress from one platform to another at this point. The situation you described with accounts being merged in the past is pretty different on the back end, I'm afraid. 

The way this is being addressed is by working on cross-progression so that everyone in this situation can receive the same treatment, rather than just a small portion who happen to speak with the "right" person on this, were it possible to solve this manually - which it is not.

As far as your current situation, again you'll need to speak with Sony about the recent purchase, as we have zero ability to address purchases made through another platform's billing systems. It absolutely sucks that your PS4 died just after that battle pass was purchased, and reaching out to them is going to be the way forward for that aspect of the situation. We do not have the ability to address that purchase, nor can we grant/copy an additional battle pass to a separate platform.

As to the content itself, that content will still be linked to your son's PSN account, which I understand doesn't help at the moment without access to a PlayStation console. Hopefully as the work on cross-progression continues we'll have more details on how he'll be able to access or merge that progress on other platforms, but I'm sorry to say it's not a situation that can be handled manually or on a one-off basis in the meantime.