PlayStation to issue refunds as Austrian court rules FIFA FUT Packs as gambling
FIFA Ultimate Team Packs have been ruled as a form of gambling by a court in Austria after several Austrian FIFA players sued Sony in 2020.
For the last few years, concerns have been raised over loot boxes in gaming, with many suggesting the purchase of these randomised in-game items could be a gateway to gambling for young people. EA Sports has come under fire in recent years due to its inclusion of loot boxes in its FIFA titles, and the most recent entry FIFA 23 is no different.
According to a report from Games Wirtschaft (via VGC ), Sony has been ordered to repay €338.26 to the plaintiffs after a small court in Hermagor, Austria ruled that FIFA's loot boxes, FUT Packs, violated the country's gambling laws. Sony is reportedly being held responsible due to the Packs being bought through the PlayStation Store, but the verdict is not yet final, so the decision can be appealed.
The report claims that multiple FIFA players sued the Tokyo-based corporation back in 2020 and that one of the plaintiffs, who is a minor, “gambled away,” €400 on FIFA Packs. The report also claims that Austrian litigation financers Padronus avowed a four-digit number of FIFA players have contacted the company to make claims on average around €800, with one extreme case up to €85,000.
The lawsuit was filed because the players felt that FIFA's random pack system was unfair and didn't comply with Austria's gambling rules. The court agreed, with the loot boxes judged a significant violation of the Austrian Gaming Act.
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Forbidden Loot
Loot boxes are a feature in many video games that involve opening a mystery box, or in this case, a Pack, which can be acquired through either in-game currency or real-life money. In FIFA 23 Ultimate Team, players can use real money to purchase FIFA Points, and these Points can then be used to open FUT Packs.
FUT Packs contain a collection of random items, and depending on which Pack you open, the odds of receiving a rare player item can change drastically, hence the comparison to gambling. In one purchase, players can spend from 79p to £79.99 at once on FIFA Points, but no matter how much money you spend, the items you get in return remain completely random.
In this case, the purchase of FIFA Packs in Ultimate Team violates the Austrian Gaming Act due to the possibility of the items received being worth more or less than the value of the pack itself, therefore offering a "financial benefit". In FIFA 23 we've seen a Pack enter the FUT Store worth a staggering 3,000 FIFA Points, costing just under £24 in real-life money for just one Pack.
This isn't the first time that EA Sports has been questioned over its inclusion of loot boxes in FIFA and its random pack system over the last few years. In 2018, Belgium banned loot boxes after the Belgium Gaming Commission found that they are "in violation of gambling legislation".
EA also faced criticism in 2021 when a leaked document showed plans to drive FIFA players to Ultimate Team from other game modes, the game mode that contains Packs. Their response claimed that the company does not "push" people to spend money in-game.
In July last year, a 22-month consultation by the UK government found evidence that links loot boxes with problem gambling, but it decided against a ban, with the UK Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) instead calling for companies like EA to bring in measures to keep young players safe.
As of now, there's been no mention in any report that FIFA Packs will be removed from FIFA Ultimate Team in Austria, though packs must now be classified as ‘gambling games that require a licence.’ In what seems like a neverending debate, this result could prove huge in the future regarding whether loot boxes in gaming count as gambling.
Mirror Gaming has reached out to EA Sports for comment, but nothing has been issued so far.
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