EA has been fined €10 Million ($11,646,520.00 USD) in a court ruling against the company by a Holland District Court stating the EA has violated the Vetting and Gaming Act in Holland.
It has also being reported that EA was denied in the request by the company to keep the details of the fines from being disclosed to the public. CurrentlyEA is in the process of appealing the the fines, which the company has six weeks to do.
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The fine is specifically relating to the use of loot box in the Ultimate Team mode in the popular EA sport’sFIFAseries, where gamer’s can purchase cards that provide players with unique stats. the link of loot boxes equating to gambling is a hot topic as of late with even theUK Government in the process of researching loot boxesto make more educational decisions on the matter. TheFIFAgames over the last several years have also included virtual currency and a marketplace where purchased cards with different amounts of in-game financial value can be traded with other players.
EA’s use of loot boxes within the company’s sports and action titles have been significant since the beginning of the current generation in 2013. Games likeFIFA Soccer,Madden NFL, and theNHLseries have had some form of the popular Ultimate Team Mode where a player’s progression can be assisted with purchases of cards that boost certain stats or provided unique additions to a team.
In 2017, EA releasedStar Wars Battlefront 2, the sequel to the company’s 2015 reboot of the series.Battlefront 2was largely criticized by fans and critics alike with its inclusion of loot boxes that provided players with stat boosts, unique characters and weapons, each with a rarity assigned indicating the chance of receiving a wanted reward. The backlash towardsBattlefront 2was so severe that EA pulled lootboxes from the game and would lateradmit to making the wrong choices inBattlefront 2.
Since then, EA has largely focused on story-based content with theStar Warslicense including the single player focused,Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order. In addition, EA has stated that the newly releasedStar Wars Squadronswill have no DLCor purchasable add-ons of any kind, despite the multiplayer mode in the space-shooter.
Meanwhile next gen versions ofFIFA 21,Madden NFL 21, andNHL 21are still being developed with current gen owners having the ability toupgrade to a PS5 or Xbox Series X version for freeonce the games are made available. With the fines a big issue going forward for the company, it will be interesting to see what changes, if any, EA will make to future games.
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