EA has been punished EUR10 million ($11.646.520.00 dollars) in a ruling of a court against the company, issued by the Holland District Court declaring that EA has not complied with The Vetting and Gaming Act in Holland. The report also states that EA was denied a request made by EA to stop the specifics about the amount of fines to be revealed for the general public. At present, EA FC 24 Coins is trying to appeal the fines. EA is given six months to make.
The case is specifically related to the loot box within the Ultimate Team mode in the popular EA game's FIFA series, in which players are able to purchase cards that provide players with special statistics. The connection between loot boxes and gambling has become a hot topic lately, with government officials from the UK Government in the process of studying loot boxes in order in order to make better informed choices on the subject. The FIFA games of the past several years also include virtual currency as well as the marketplace in which purchased cards with various amounts of in-game financial value could be traded among other participants.
The use of loot boxes by EA in its games for action and sports has been crucial since the beginning of this generation, which is 2024. Games such as FIFA Soccer, Madden NFL as well as NHL series have featured some variant of the well-known Ultimate Team Mode where a player's development can be supported through the purchase of cards that improve specific stats or provide distinctive additions to teams.
In 2024. EA launched Star Wars Battlefront 2. the sequel to EA's 2024 reboot to the franchise. Battlefront 2 was largely criticized by critics and fans alike for its lootboxes that supplied players with stat boosters as well as unique weapons and characters, all with a rarity that indicated the possibility of receiving a prize. The negative reaction to Battlefront 2 was so severe that EA took the lootboxes out of the game and then admitted that they made the wrong decisions during Battlefront 2.
Since since then, EA has largely focused on narrative-based content under their Star Wars license including the one-player focused Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order. Furthermore, EA has stated that the recently released Star Wars Squadrons will have no add-ons or DLC available for purchase that are of any kind, regardless of the multiplayer feature in the space shooter.
The next generation version are being developed for EAFC 24 Coins. Madden NFL 24. and NHL 24 are still being made available to current owners able to upgrade to an PS5 and Xbox Series X version for free after the games have been released. With the fines being a huge problem for EA and its employees, it is interesting to find out what changes EA will implement to the next games.