FIFA Ultimate Team Card Packs May Have EA in Trouble with the Law

There should be no form of in game purchases in any game that costs money, or costs more than say £9.99 or something. There certainly shouldn't be ones in games costing £60. To be honest, FUT and those types of modes don't interest me anyway, neither do cosmetics in other games, but for kids and teenagers they certainly do, and for companies to target that kind of audience is totally and utterly immoral and wrong on so many levels.

You know what’s stupid? That the netherlands and belgium see it as gambling but other countries won’t because there is no physical value to your prizes. Should’t it be seen as worse than gambling because you actually get nothing out of it?

I don't think this is fair, their games are basically an unplayable grindfest without the loot boxes, not fun to play at all. So I think they should allow them back in so people can at least enjoy skipping all the boring parts in their games for a small price

"We have our doubts that anything especially noteworthy will occur because of this"

Which is also what you said about it being made illegal, or being a big issue for lawmakers to notice.

Long and short is, if you break the law, your ass needs to be handed to you.

This is where the lines blur though, isn't it.

What are Belgium's views/laws on packs of cards for things like "Magic: The Gathering" and other actual physical card games? Because if they're not viewed as gambling, then these digital versions can't be either. Same goes for things like Panini football stickers.

EA CEO Andrew Wilson: "players always receive a specified number of items in each pack"

it's not about how many things you get in the pack it's about if the contents are random or not

IF they are random which UT packs are then according to Belgium law, IT'S GAMBLING

@Paranoimia It's a far more complex issue than people like to admit.

It gave KSI a career and so should be banished to the dustbin of history.

You could get around gambling by letting people open packs and buy the contents if they want. They won't do that though as people will open packs and only pay for the good stuff as they know they are basically charging people money for rubbish at the minute and making a killing from those weak enough to say just one more.

Ironically I saw Jim Sterling video about this yesterday, he pretty much summarized everything and I agree with him, I think other countries should do the same and ban loot boxes for a more healthy gaming experience

@LaNooch1978 I couldnt agree more with you. I would also add that its detremental to the perceived value of the product you buy, because some items in the game are deliberately witheld from you even though you paid full price for the product, and thus to the overall enjoyment of the game (because you feel screwed as a customer )

@LaNooch1978 The thing is, at a time when an increasing number of people are happy to pay £55+ for digital copies of the games themselves, not to mention Season Passes and DLC, the argument that digital items have no value is becoming less and less convincing.

That said, I do generally agree with what you say about loot boxes and their potential effects on those with addiction problems.

@Paranoimia They have no value in that they depreciate to $0 the moment you buy them. There's no resale or anything. They lose all monetary value the moment it's bought. The worth to the person or if they feel it was money well-spent doesn't matter as they have no value in the non-emotional or fun department. I would say they are valueless personally speaking in the context here.