Players across multiple Electronic Arts franchises on all platforms reported widespread server outages Thursday. Fans took to Twitter to report being disconnected from games like “FIFA 18,” “Madden NFL 18” and “Star Wars Battlefront II” with the error code 721, which indicates a network error. Down Detector reported a huge surge in reported EA server problems late Thursday afternoon.

EA's support Twitter account acknowledged the issue and claimed EA was investigating the outage.

Some players speculated that the servers were hacked, but there was no evidence to support that claim. It could also have something to do with a large influx of new players in these games due to games being given as holiday gifts. Xbox Live notably had a weeks-long outage immediately following the 2007 holiday season.

A lengthy server outage across EA games would be an unfortunately fitting end to a year that saw the gaming giant deal with numerous PR fiascos. The most notable of those would be the controversy over the real-money loot boxes in 'Star Wars Battlefront 2,' which large numbers of players felt tilted the game's balance in favor of those who were willing to dump money into it. EA drastically reduced the prices of loot boxes and then axed in-game microtransactions altogether, all of which happened before the game officially launched. The same thing happened with 'Need for Speed: Payback,' as well, but it did not get as much media attention only because another EA product was dominating headlines.

In the first half of 2017, EA also dealt with fan outrage over several aspects of 'Mass Effect: Andromeda.' Bugs, meme-worthy facial animations and a generally cold reception to the first 'Mass Effect' game in five years led to what was once a massive franchise effectively being put on hiatus. That was all the culmination of an unfocused and under-supported development cycle, Kotaku reported in June.

Thanks in large part to the 'Star Wars Battlefront 2' controversy, analysts predicted EA would miss its financial target. The company is still doing quite well overall, financially, but its reputation and stock price have taken a hit over these issues in recent months.

Stay with IBT for updates on EA's servers.

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