We're happy to announce that we will soon be releasing an update for the FIFA Ultimate Team (FUT) and EA SPORTS Football Club (EAS FC) areas of FIFA 12. It will become available on Xbox 360 globally and on PlayStation 3 in North America on 13th March, and on PlayStation 3 in Europe and the rest of the world on 14th March.

We will be introducing a range of great new features for both areas of the game, as well as fixing some bugs and addressing two very important issues affecting the FUT community: Protecting FUT accounts against phishers and scammers, and the end-of-game disconnects affecting some FUT users on PlayStation 3 and PC.

Additionally, the update to the game will coincide with an upgrade for the FUT Web App. This work will require that the Web App is taken offline during the deployment of the update. We expect that the Web App will be offline from 12th March at around 7am GMT until approximately the same time on 16th March.

Your Security Is Paramount
We are immensely proud of the huge, passionate community that has built up around FIFA Ultimate Team and we're committed to providing it with the value and support it deserves. The upgrades we are announcing today are just one part of a continual and expanding commitment to the service we provide our community, and right at the heart of a great community is the security of its members.

We're committed to doing everything we can in our game to help keep you safe from phishers and scammers, and our March game update is key part of that commitment:
It will now only be possible to send trade offers to people on your friends list.
On entering FUT on your console for the first time after the update, you will be required to provide a unique answer to a security question.
If anyone else attempts to enter your FUT account from a different console, they will be required to enter the answer to your security question.
While these measures will certainly make life much more difficult for those attempting to compromise others' accounts, it's still vitally important that you protect your information.

You should never reveal your security question and answer to anyone, especially on a website other than the "ea.com" domain. Never give out your username or password. Never share your login credentials (e.g.: email address and password) for any reason. EA representatives will never ask you for your password. Non-EA individuals and/or websites that ask for your login information in exchange for discounted goods (e.g.: free virtual items) or other game-related services should not be trusted.

Get more advice on protecting yourself here.

Ending the End-Of-Game Disconnects
For some time now, a number of FUT gamers on PlayStation 3 and PC have suffered disconnections at the end of games. This was a problem associated with certain types of router hardware that resulted in very small but very important bits of data being blocked at the conclusion of a game.

We will be deploying a fix for this problem as part of this update.

Since those who were affected most severely suffered a serious degradation of their game experience, we will also be compensating those people with a haul of FUT content significant enough to demonstrate just how thankful we are for sticking with us while we tackled the problem.

THE MARCH GAME UPDATE: DETAILS

FIFA 12 Ultimate Team

Trading
To better keep you protected, you can now only send trade offers to friends.
A new trade notifications system will be deployed.
A new design will be released for the Trade Feed.
We have increased the maximum bid price from 10 million coins to 15 million.
Tournaments
New Prize types have been added with additional Packs and Items.
The prizing on offer for each tournament will now be displayed before you select one to enter.
A new tournament reward structure has been introduced, varying the prizing depending on the number of times a tournament has been entered.
We have introduced new tournament types, with entry criteria that allows for teams of mixed leagues, mixed nationalities or mixed clubs.
A new tournament type will only allow users a limited number of attempts over time.
Your team's eligibility for tournament entry is now visible on the Squad screen, and requirements that aren't being met will be highlighted.
We have introduced a new difficulty level - Ultimate Difficulty. The toughest difficulty level in the game, it combines Legendary AI with a chemistry rating of 100.
Squad Building
You'll now find a new Squad Wizard to help build and/or fill out your squad quickly.
Introduced the ability to copy a squad to create variations more easily.
The chemistry links between players will now be more obvious, with a bad connection coloured red, mediocre coloured orange, and good remaining green.
Team of the Week
You can see the full Team of the Week and navigate and interact with it.
You can now bring up Team of the Week player bios.
You'll have access to new navigation to change between current and previous Teams of the Week.
Bug Fixes
We have fixed the end-of-game disconnection error affecting some PS3 and PC users.
A recently discovered bug that allowed an Ultimate Team player to gain control of another player's team has been fixed.
Coins will no longer be awarded if a user Alt-tabs away at the beginning of FUT games on PC.
Addressed a disconnection bug if a user tried to add more than 100 cards to their Watch List.
Fixed a problem where the user receives a Debug Text error message in the Watch List when attempting to bid on an item that has already expired.

EA SPORTS Football Club
Users now have the option to choose the Skill Level they want to play the EAS FC Challenge on. Each Skill Level will offer different XP rewards. You'll still only be able to complete the EAS FC Challenge once, though.
EAS FC Challenges can now utilise Be A Pro to have player-specific objectives, rather than having to play as the entire team.
EAS FC Challenges can now start from a Yellow Card scripted sequence, so you can be thrown into a crucial part of the match from the get-go.
The [X] Button has replaced the [BACK] button to open up the EA SPORTS Football Club hub on Xbox 360, while the [SQUARE] button has replaced the [SELECT] button to open up the EAS FC hub on PlayStation 3.
EA SPORTS Football Club is now a selectable option in the Main Menu bar. Selecting it will open up the EAS FC hub.
A new visual effect will now appear over the top of the EAS FC widget when you level up.
Bug Fixes
Completing an EAS FC Challenge was not awarding XP for some people. This has been fixed.

FIFA Ultimate Team Web App

Full Screen Mode
Enjoy FUT Web in full screen, including enhanced high-resolution graphics and all the new visual improvements. Note: Typing will not work in full-screen mode in Flash, so a keypad has been added for auction features.
Console Security Question
The FUT Web App's existing security question now works in conjunction with FUT on your console. You can no longer create your question on FUT Web, it must be created from your console. Your old security question will continue to function until you change it from FUT Console.
When logging into FUT Web on a new computer or browser, or after 30 days, you will be asked to verify your answer.
You now have the option of locking your account from the security question screen on FUT Web if you feel it has been compromised. If you do choose to do this, you must login into FUT on your console to recover your account.
Auction Info Tooltip
All active auctions now have a tooltip that displays all relevant auction information - simply hover over the item.
Bidding Changes
When you are outbid on an auction, the new amount will be highlighted in red beside the current bid. This is to warn you of a potential drastic change in bid prices where some people have been tricked in to losing many coins.
The Bid button will be delayed for 2 seconds if you have been outbid. This ensures everyone has fair time to review the latest bid.
Holding down the increment and decrement button will raise/lower the price, making it quicker when clicking.
Squad Management
Copy any Squad directly from the squad selector.
Your Active Squad is now highlighted on the squad selector
Dynamic Icons for Auction Search Filters
Each search filter now has a unique icon.
Flags, leagues and team crests are now displayed for Players.
Player positions now co-ordinate with their respective colour, as well as the formation icons.
Active Messaging
Replaced the play/pause controls with icons for each message.
Dynamic messaging now appears in the Store.
Usability and Art Improvements
You will notice a wide range of improvements to the design and usability of FUT Web, including better design elements, updated search filter options and a new filter for manager nationality. There are too many individual changes to list here, but you should certainly notice the difference.