The company responsible for the FIFA franchise and its FUT mode receives a new demand for considering the packets of packs as “bets without guarantees”.
Electronic Arts in the Spotlight Again in Loot Box Lawsuits; so much so that in California, United States, there has been a new demand linked to booster packs in FIFA Ultimate Team, the popular game mode in which players purchase player card packs and which plaintiffs consider boxes of booty under another name. And it is that EA (as well as other companies) already accumulates a good number of litigation due to the presence of the always controversial loot boxes in different video games in recent years, a practice that has been involved in controversial controversies for being considered as “bets no guarantees with real money ”.
FUT packs under suspicion
Thus, and according to the Californian prosecutor’s office, in-game purchases that require real currency serve so that players can obtain soccer player cards with a higher value, as well as other items with a certain virtual value for the game itself, all through of a total randomness. And it is through this practice that said demand points to “unsecured bets” through real money through microtransactions.
According to the document presented to the California authorities by the class action lawsuit, “EA’s Ultimate Team packages are loot boxes. Buying this type of content is nothing more than an in-game gamble. Buying these DLCs for real money simply means betting for random in-game prizes, with the promise of rare prizes represented by cards with professional players or other bonuses for your virtual team.
We will see how this new class action case for the FIFA Ultimate Team packets in the United States evolves and if finally EA will be forced to consider them as a form of gambling or not.
