This article was originally written for TheNintendoVillage.com, a website I founded and ran from 2018 to 2021.

Microtransactions don’t exactly have many fans amongst gamers, and yet they routinely bring in big bucks for those that implement them. EA recently announced that it made $1bn last quarter from microtransactions alone, and now some players are taking action against the company.

Two new lawsuits filed in France are suing EA over it’s FIFA Ultimate Team lootbox mechanic. Players purchase various packs in-game, with the different packs containing varying chances of scoring a highly-rated player to add to your squad.

The lawsuits allege that this is a form of gambling, and that the only way to win in Ultimate Team is to throw ever-increasing sums of money at it. One lawyer, Victor Zagury, alludes to actions taken in other European countries (such as Belgium where lootboxes have been outlawed) in his statement:

“In this game, everyone wants to have a dream team to go as far as possible. My client spent €600 in five months without ever getting a big player. The developers of this game mode have created an illusionary and particularly addictive system. The more you pay, the more you have the possibility of getting big players. We believe that a gambling game has been integrated into this video game because buying packs is nothing more than a bet. It is the logic of a casino that has entered their homes. Today, an 11 or 12-year-old teenager can, without any restriction, play FUT and commit money because there is no parental control system in this mode. Belgium and the Netherlands have already taken up this issue.”

The lawyers hope that by filing the suit they will be able to make the processes which govern the pack rewards more transparent, giving players an insight into “the algorithm which generates the distribution of player cards in packs.”

Are you an FUT player? What do you think of EA’s lootbox approach? Tell us all about it in the comments.

Source: Get French Football News