Loot boxes remain one of the most controversial aspects of modern video games and EA, in particular, has drawn plenty of ire for how it implements them into its games.FIFA 21is possibly one of the biggest offenders, with many arguing that itencourages and exposes gambling to minors, although EA has repeatedly insisted that loot boxes aren’t gambling. However, in a somewhat surprising move, EA has made a substantial change to how it’ll be handling loot boxes inFIFA 21for the foreseeable future.
The biggest complaint with loot boxes is that players are essentially paying money for a random selection of content. Starting today,FIFA 21will offer what EA is calling Ultimate Team Preview Packs, which basically let players review the pack’s contents before buying them, meaning they’ll know exactly what they’re getting. These packs can be purchased with either the FUT Coins currency (which is only earned in-game) or FIFA Points (which must be bought with real money).
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Currently, EA is running a Festival of FUTball campaign inFIFA 21and these new Preview Packs will be the only loot boxes available for its duration. They won’t be replacing theregular loot boxes, with those set to return once the campaign has ended.
It must be noted that the preview packs don’t inform whether the items contained are duplicates or not, and if a player decides not to purchase one after checking the contents, then they cannot preview a pack of the same type until a timer has run out. The only way to bypass the timer is to purchase the pack, which will reset the timer. A full breakdown of how it works can be found on EA’s website.
One reason why EA may have decided to do this is because it’s testing out new avenues to make money ahead ofFIFA 22, which should release later this year (even though it hasn’t been formally announced yet). It’s already started doing this by simplyselling cosmetic itemsdirectly to customers.
And while EA doesn’t acknowledge it in the announcement, this could possibly be in response to gambling laws and the growing argument that theFIFAgames include gambling mechanics. After all, theDutch government ruled loot boxes as gamblingand demanded that EA either remove them from the game or face fines, a decision EA has challenged. If this was to become a recurring issue for EA, then these preview packs may be an attempt to still sell loot boxes while adhering to gambling laws.
FIFA 21is available on PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Stadia, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
