In FIFA 18 Ultimate Team, there are controversial loot boxes. The CEO of Electronic Arts denies the accusation that FUT sets are gambling. However, he wants to take action against coin traders.
In almost every online game, you can purchase additional content through microtransactions. Often, this takes the form of loot boxes: you buy a chest or a pack for a specific price, but the contents are largely unknown.
FUT also cannot do without these surprise packs. At the beginning of the year, a ban was contemplated in various parts of Europe. This would also have affected Ultimate Team.
In the conference about the current financial report, EA CEO Andrew Wilson commented on the discussion.
Loot boxes in FIFA Ultimate Team: Gambling or not?
For EA, which makes a fortune with Ultimate Team through microtransactions, a loot box ban would be critical. Sets are an essential part of the FUT mode.
How do loot boxes work in FIFA Ultimate Team? In FUT, everything revolves around player cards of professional footballers. These are only available from packs. They can then be used or offered for sale on the transfer market. The cards are divided into bronze, silver, and gold as well as “common,” “rare,” and “special.”
There are different types of sets, each with a different number of players. A “Premium Gold Player Set” contains twelve players, of which eleven are gold cards and three are rare; a “Rare Player Set” also contains twelve players, but all are gold and rare, making it significantly more valuable.
How do players get loot boxes? Packs can be obtained in many ways. You can earn them in various modes or purchase them for in-game currency, which is coins, in the shop. However, they can also be bought with “FIFA Points.” These are obtained in exchange for real money; for 10 euros, you get about 1000 FIFA Points.
The video shows a “pack opening.” The YouTubers buy FIFA Points for several hundred euros and pull sets with them. The result is often modest, as good players are very rare.
EA CEO Wilson argues against pack ban
For Andrew Wilson, CEO of Electronic Arts, sets are not gambling, even if the value of a pack’s contents can vary greatly.
He argues that buyers know in advance what contents they can expect in the set – namely, a certain number of items of varying rarity. Furthermore, there is no way to exchange the drawn cards for real money. Thus, they have no real value.
This statement is probably not entirely correct. There are ways to sell in-game currency or FIFA accounts for real money on certain sites. However, this is illegal. If you are caught during a coin transfer, the FUT account is immediately banned.
Electronic Arts wants to take stronger action against coin traders
To ensure that the FUT cards continue to have no real value, EA wants to take action against such traders. Wilson stated that the publisher is working globally with industry associations and regulatory authorities.
EA does not want to be hindered by the loot box discussion. On the contrary, it should continue to look forward and offer players content and features in a “transparent, entertaining, fair, and balanced manner.”
A first step has already been taken. The WM mode for FIFA 18 will come completely free as an additional download for PS4, Xbox One, and PC.
Philipp says: I believe EA is very afraid of a loot box ban. A lot is being done to pacify the community: the free WM mode, cheaper TOTS cards for all players, and responding to community wishes. Such things had been missed in recent years.
Because even if Wilson’s arguments are certainly valid: it is still mostly minors who are repeatedly encouraged by EA to spend real money on sets.
