Cole Palmer's EA Sports FC 27 Twitch Ban and Rating Rant

Cole Palmer’s banter with EA Sports usually starts and ends with a rating gripe. This time, it ended with a takedown notice.

On Tuesday afternoon, the 24-year-old Chelsea midfielder fired up Twitch and, with the casualness of someone loading a playlist, clicked into EA Sports FC 27. No embargo, no scheduled promo, no glossy launch stream. Just Palmer, a controller, and thousands of fans watching him crack open Ultimate Team packs and dive into matches for over an hour.

There was one problem: the game isn’t out yet.

The global release is set for September 25, with early access not due to begin until September 18. Palmer ploughed straight through that wall. The developers noticed. The stream vanished mid-broadcast, and his channel was swiftly scrubbed of every trace of EA Sports FC 27 after a copyright complaint.

Before the plug was pulled, the whole thing had already turned into a surreal, very modern football moment.

EA drops into the chat

In the middle of Palmer’s unsanctioned showcase, the official EA Sports FC account appeared in the chat, like a headteacher walking into the classroom mid-food fight. The message was light but pointed: “Errr Cole, weren't we going to do this a bit later? We'll be live at 6pm UK!”

The warning came with a wink, but the follow-up was anything but playful. Palmer’s content disappeared, and his Twitch account was left stripped of the new game.

He didn’t sulk. He pivoted.

On Instagram, the England international posted a tongue-in-cheek plea, tagging both Twitch and EA. “I was only giving the people what they wanted... unban me pls,” he wrote, leaning into the chaos. On another platform, reacting to a post about his suspension, he kept it short and defiant: “We back soon.”

The message was clear: you can take the game off his channel, but you won’t take the grin off his face.

Ratings row and a wounded pride

During the ill-fated stream, Palmer did what every modern player does when they see their virtual self: he checked the numbers. They didn’t impress him.

His overall rating had dropped from 87 to 85. Two points gone. Two points he clearly cared about.

“I need a word with EA. They took two ratings off me,” he said. “I had one leg for ten months last season, what do you want me to do?”

It was a line delivered with humour, but rooted in a very real frustration. Palmer spent long stretches of last season fighting his body, not opponents. A groin issue and a fractured toe cut into his rhythm and blunted his impact in the opening months of the campaign.

His pace rating also drew fire. Seeing Chelsea team-mate Morgan Rogers ahead of him, Palmer shook his head.

“76 pace? I don't know how he's got more pace than me but, EA sometimes, man, they're a bit crazy.”

For a player who thrives on sharp movement and timing, those numbers sting, even if only in jest.

From Sweden (or Denmark) to Sydney

Palmer’s jokes about “one leg” mask the grind he went through to get back. During Chelsea’s pre-season tour in Sydney, he opened up about the missteps of his recovery.

“The first few months, with me being injured, I just wanted to go out and play, which I probably shouldn't have done,” he admitted. “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.”

Those seven weeks came after a season of searching for solutions. He even flew to Scandinavia in pursuit of answers.

“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.”

It’s an offhand way to describe a serious decision, but it underlines how far he was willing to travel, literally and figuratively, to fix his body. No surgery, just rest, rehab and a reset.

Back on the pitch, where it matters

Now, with the injuries parked and the rehab behind him, Palmer looks like a player unburdened. His start to the new season has been electric.

Alongside Morgan Rogers, he has already racked up four goal contributions in the Premier League. The pair are beginning to shape Chelsea’s attacking identity, their influence growing with every match at Stamford Bridge.

The contrast is stark: last year, he was talking about what he couldn’t do. This year, defenders are finding out exactly what he can.

The Twitch ban, the ratings rant, the playful digs at EA – all of it lives in the modern ecosystem of a young star who understands the stage he’s on. But the real judgement won’t come from a number on a virtual card or a temporary suspension from a streaming platform.

If he keeps this form, EA can adjust his rating next year. Opponents won’t need a console to see it.