The ZDF Magazin Royale criticized the loot boxes in FIFA in an episode aired on September 16, highlighting that German Twitch streamers continue to promote them. Streamer Maximilian “Trymacs” Stemmler asserted that he wasn’t concerned by this criticism: he doesn’t promote loot boxes. However, he’s back in the FIFA craze. He has already invested €9,300 in FIFA 23 and assembled one of the most valuable FUT teams on the planet. For Trymacs, this is not contradictory.
What was the criticism of German Twitch streamers?
- Jan Böhmermann criticized the loot box model in his show “ZDF Magazin Royale”, specifically in the sports series FIFA.
- He talked about how FIFA uses the same methods as gambling: he stated that the mechanics behind it are addictive and have already driven people to ruin.
- Twitch streamers were criticized for promoting this behavior in their streams. A clip was shown where Trymacs excitedly drew a card (via twitch).
There is indeed a football game attached to the loot boxes in FIFA:
Trymacs cheered the criticism of loot boxes in FIFA, did not consider himself affected
How did Trymacs react to this criticism? One of the biggest German streamers for FIFA is Trymacs, who is known for spending a lot of money on games.
Trymacs fully agreed with the criticism, calling FIFA a “children’s casino” and was quite pleased that someone is finally giving EA a hard time: Trymacs chuckled at how good it is that such a broadside against FIFA comes two weeks before its release.
He himself wished that loot boxes would be completely banned in Germany and felt exempt from the criticism: he does not promote FIFA, does not sell credit cards, and is absolutely fine with himself. He is also always warning against spending too much money on FIFA.
Overall, FIFA is one of the worst games ever:
“I’m the greatest of all time – for only €9,300”
What is the situation now with the release of FIFA 23? Trymacs is totally in the FIFA fever. He has already invested over €9,000 in loot boxes.
According to the club value statistics of FIFA 23, Trymacs has acquired the currently fifth most valuable team of players in FUT worldwide.
In a clip on Twitch, he says he has already invested €9,300 in loot boxes and seems proud to remain under €10,000:
In a YouTube clip, he explains that although he has no luck with the packs, things are going very well for him in the transfer market (via youtube).
What is the problem? Such highlight clips show how exciting it is to invest money in a game, spin the “wheel of fortune”, and hope for a good result.
Just as Trymacs rejoices over Icon Garrincha, gamblers celebrate when they hit the jackpot.
Such clips and streams can lead viewers to want to imitate the streamer and invest money in the gambling mechanics: expenses they cannot afford, unlike the streamer.
This can, in turn, lead to gaming addiction. Exactly what Böhmermann criticized.
“He’s not talking about me”
How does Trymacs justify it? For Trymacs, this seems not to be a contradiction. He follows the logic of MontanaBlack: streamers create content and viewers already know that streamers “have more money than they do”. They should therefore not take the streamers as role models. Ultimately, everyone is responsible for themselves.
Moreover, Trymacs always warns against spending excessively. He explained that viewers could see from him that “spending money hard” in games like Hay Day doesn’t help at all – it only ruins the fun of the game.
With FIFA, he also seems to have a clear conscience:
- On one hand, he does not benefit from his viewers spending money on FIFA by selling credit cards. He even says, “EA hates him” because he continually states how bad their system is
- and he refrains from casino streams, which are even worse and would drive viewers to suicide
However, what he says and what he does and exemplifies do not seem to align. Even during his reaction to the ZDF Magazin Royale, when Trymacs said, “He’s not talking about me”, his viewers in the chat informed him: “Yes, he’s talking about you.”
