the purchase of FIFA 13's Season Ticket gives you early access to the game. This allows early access to some of the most popular game modes - FIFA Ultimate Team - a whole week early than rivals who don't shell out for this early access pack. This means that players can open virtual "packs" containing glorified football player stickers to start building up your squad. This is popular as players want to start their game with as strong a team as possible - a powerful incentive for players to splash out the extra money to start early.
Criticisms of this system include the emergence of a two-tier system where those who cannot or refuse to pay for the early entry are already far behind their rivals on Day One when they receive their retail copies of the game. It appeals to the FIFA established fanbase but can alienate newcomers and casual players who would instead shy away from playing the Ultimate Team portion of the game online because the "Hardcore" FIFA players who purchased the early access are already too far ahead to be able to play against competitively.
This Web Apps section of the FIFA website shows the ability to trade cards and players, a whole week before players receive their retail boxed copies of the game. This is an example of cross-media convergence as the brand of FIFA is enhance through the use of home computer based browser websites. EA and FIFA use cross-media promotion strategies - they regularly have a FIFA based Facebook game called FIFA Superstars. This promoted the game and even unlocked bonus content in the game - reaching a particular level in Superstars unlocked the Emirates stadium in the demo version of the game.
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