Cole Palmer's Twitch Stream Disrupts EA Sports FC 27 Launch
Cole Palmer thought he was just killing an afternoon on Twitch. Instead, he walked straight into EA’s embargo wall.
On Tuesday, the 24-year-old Chelsea midfielder fired up an impromptu stream and dropped into EA Sports FC 27, days before anyone was supposed to see it. No sponsors. No polished promo. Just Palmer, thousands of viewers and a game that technically hadn’t arrived yet.
For more than an hour he ripped open Ultimate Team packs, jumped into matches and chatted away, casually trampling over a strict release schedule. The global launch is set for September 25, with early access not due until September 18. Palmer went live anyway.
The developers noticed. Quickly.
The stream vanished mid-broadcast, cut off without warning. Soon after, every trace of EA Sports FC 27 disappeared from his Twitch channel, wiped following a copyright request. One moment he was packing virtual stars, the next he was gone.
Before the plug was pulled, the whole episode took on a comic edge. EA Sports FC’s official account dropped into the chat, leaving a pointed but playful message for their rogue cover star.
“Errr Cole, weren't we going to do this a bit later? We'll be live at 6pm UK!”
The telling-off landed in real time, in front of his viewers. Palmer just kept going until he no longer could.
The ban didn’t silence him. It just moved him to another platform.
On Instagram, the England international leaned into the chaos. He tagged both Twitch and EA in a story and wrote: “I was only giving the people what they wanted... unban me pls.” Later, reacting to a post about his suspension elsewhere on social media, he added a simple promise: “We back soon.”
Away from the drama over access, Palmer had another bone to pick with the game: his own rating.
During the ill-fated stream, he discovered his overall had dropped from 87 to 85. He didn’t hide his frustration.
“I need a word with EA. They took two ratings off me. I had one leg for ten months last season, what do you want me to do?”
He then zeroed in on his pace, comparing himself with Chelsea team-mate Morgan Rogers.
“76 pace? I don't know how he's got more pace than me but, EA sometimes, man, they're a bit crazy.”
The joke about “one leg” pointed back to a season that never really got going for him. Palmer spent long stretches on the treatment table with a groin issue and a fractured toe, injuries that blunted his impact in the opening months of the last campaign.
On Chelsea’s pre-season tour in Sydney, he admitted he had pushed too hard, too soon.
“The first few months, with me being injured, I just wanted to go out and play, which I probably shouldn't have done,” he said. “Obviously, I couldn't play how I wanted to play. It was a bad season, personally, with injuries and stuff, but I feel good now. The seven weeks obviously helped. I'm ready to go again.”
He went to unusual lengths to fix the problem.
“I went to Sweden or Denmark, one of those countries, to see a doctor,” he revealed. “We did speak about (surgery), but I didn't end up getting it.”
Those trips, the enforced rest and the reset over the summer now look worth it. Palmer has started the new season sharply, linking up with Rogers in a Chelsea attack that suddenly looks dangerous again. Both players already have four goal contributions each in the Premier League, a neat snapshot of their growing influence at Stamford Bridge.
The Twitch saga will run its course. His account may return, or it may not. For Palmer, the real stage waits elsewhere.
Chelsea’s schedule is stacking up, with his form in the Premier League and Carabao Cup central to the club’s early momentum. If he keeps playing like this, EA’s two-point downgrade might be the least accurate rating of his season.
