FIFA publisher EA Sports has confirmed that they will stick with loot boxes in FIFA 23. While we all know that the overpriced FUT packs come with minimal chances for top-rated cards, they have the nerve to say that it is a fair offer for us players.
EA Sports has started the hype train for FIFA 23. While we already got the cover, the release date (September 30), many new smaller features for Career Mode and Pro Clubs and a lot of changes in Ultimate Team, EA has announced that they keep the most hated feature of all: loot boxes.
You probably know what loot boxes are in FUT: packs that could contain Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo or Kylian Mbappé, but often enough, just show Harry Maguire, Dani Parejo or some other crap after you opened them and hoped for the best. You can get them with coins or FIFA points, the currency which you can only get if you pay for it.
Belgium Banned Loot Boxes – UK Will See Them Again In FIFA 23
Belgium started their ban on loot boxes in 2019 and won't feature them in FUT 23. So, FIFA players in Belgium have to grind the transfer market and get the players with coins – and only with coins. Very bad for the pro scene, as Gilles 'Gilles_1996' Bernard (FIFA World Cup participant) described in an interview with the German sports-website kicker: "FIFA is a pay-to-win game on a competitive level."
Now, the UK government decided not to legislate loot boxes. So we will see this pay-to-win or as EA likes to call it "surprise mechanics" again in FIFA 23.In a statement given to Eurogamer, EA said: "giving players the choice to spend if they want to is fair." And that packs in FUT are "a part of FIFA that players love".
Well... don't get me wrong, EA, but we don't love the concept of gambling or having to pay for the best players in the game. Shocking statement, but still.
UK Government Wants To Protect Young People From Gambling – But Not In FUT
While the UK Government released a press statement, saying "companies must do more to ensure safe and responsible gaming and take action on ‘loot boxes’ to protect young people" – they did not quite get the point of how Ultimate Team packs work.
Because of the "potential high cost of regulation", the government said: "Changing the Gambling Act with regards to loot boxes would have significant implementation challenges and risks of unintended consequences." Well... challenges and changing things are kinda the point of regulations... just call Belgium if you want advice on that.
Now, one could argue how loot boxes are not gambling, but come on. You don't know how the chances are on good players before you open the packs – and one pack could feature two, three or more 90-rated players – or just some between 75 and 80. What is that, if not gambling? It's exactly the same as betting money on football results with double chance. So you get at least some of your money back.
It's even more like gambling if you think about the system. You could buy packs with FIFA points (real life money) and get players back in advance. But you can only sell them for coins – which you can't exchange for real life money, of course. So once you spend your money and bought packs, it is gone. Sure, you get cards for that, but they are just interesting for one year, until the next FIFA is released. So actually, it's quite like sitting in front of a one-armed bandit, throwing away your money and pray that you will hit the big money (which you actually could).
Ok, ok. To be fair, you can buy packs solely with coins, and you don't have to spend money on them. But the government knows about the high risks of addiction that gambling always has. In a statement given to GamesIndustry.biz, they even say that young people that use loot boxes are "more likely to experience gambling, mental health, financial, and problem gaming-related harms".
And we just know that most of those 13, 14, 15, 16 years old FIFA fanboys might not be the most responsible beings on earth after loosing ten or more games in a row. Just saying. So once more, EarlyGame has one major message to all the readers and FUT players: DO NOT. SPEND MONEY. ON FUT.