EA has been facing governments who believe packs in FIFA Ultimate Team are a form of gambling. Are the tides changing for EA? For the first time ever, cosmetic items have been sold in the FUT Store, and they are not inside the usual packs.
Electronic Arts could be adding or changing a new way to buy things in the FIFA Ultimate Team store. After EA was already fined for millions over loot boxes in FUT, a leaked document has surfaced, indicating a new feature will be tested in the store.
Up until now, all items could only be obtained through packs of cards. If you have ever collected trading cards like Pokémon or Magic The Gathering, then you know it's random as to what cards you get. There is no difference with FIFA FUT packs, but will all this be changing?
What was available in the FUT Store?
At the beginning of May, manyFIFA players were amazed when they discovered the new stadium tab in Ultimate Team. For three days, players could buy cosmetic items for the first time, which were previously only hidden in loot boxes. A crowd chant, a stadium theme, a home/away jersey, and some other classic FIFA cosmetics. EA already announced on its own homepage that additional bundles will be released at different times.
However, the prices were kind of crazy. The "Football Means Everything" bundle cost a whopping 60,000 FUT coins or 700 FIFA Points. Kind of an absurd price because some cosmetics included in the bundle could be found much cheaper on the transfer market.
A very strange choice by EA, because FUT coins are hard-earned and why would you ever pay more for something that could be bought for less elsewhere? EA could be testing the waters with FIFA 21 players and seeing which one takes the bait.
Gambling in video games is a hot-button topic and rightly so, as many FIFA players are not of legal gambling age, so different countries have reacted strongly. It is also worth noting that in several countries, the Ultimate Team mode is actually banned because it is considered gambling. Is EA testing these bundles, so they can roll them out in the banned regions as a way to get around the gambling bans on loot boxes?
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Original Article by Lukas Scherbaum