Thanks for the kind words! I always end up reviewing the game for Eurogamer every year.
I think you've done an excellent job of actually breaking apart the different dimensions of the game and which parts are improved, and which parts are improving.
Although of course we've all read your review. EA's Chris Bruzzo.Ĭhris Bruzzo: Thank you. And I actually think the game plays really well this year - gameplay wise, it's probably the best it's been a long time. It's really great to speak to someone at EA about this. Well, Chris, first off, thanks so much for your time, I really do appreciate it. In it, we discuss EA's position on loot boxes as pay-to-win, its position on loot boxes as gambling, and EA's plan for any potential UK clampdown. The below Q&A presents our entire half-hour conversation, edited slightly for clarity. It was with all this in mind that I sat down with EA Chief Experience Officer Chris Bruzzo to discuss the thorny issue of FIFA and loot boxes. It's a passionate debate that is not going anywhere, despite the various initiatives and playtime checks EA has implemented in recent years. We've seen some children come forward to say they felt they were addicted to spending in Ultimate Team. We've all seen the headlines of parents who were surprised to find their child had spent loads of money on Ultimate Team. While EA maintains Ultimate Team's loot boxes do not constitute gambling, in a recent regulatory financial document the company acknowledged a change in the law could significantly impact its business.Īll this comes amid concern over the impact of loot boxes on children. If so, the government may act at some point in 2022. The government commissioned Abertay University to assess this evidence, and the hope is a report will be issued by the end of this year. In December 2019, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport launched a review of loot boxes alongside a wider review of the Gambling Act 2005, and in June 2020 announced a public call for evidence. In the UK, video game loot boxes are not currently classed as gambling, but the government is investigating to see if the law should be applied to them. Some countries have decided they are, forcing EA to change the way Ultimate Team works locally. Governments from across the globe have over the last few years taken a close look at video game loot boxes and whether they should be considered gambling. That's not just the view of many players of the game - many who play FIFA professionally reckon Ultimate Team is pay-to-win, too.īut that's just half the story. Söderlund also promised future EA games would learn from the company's mistakes.Īnd yet, loot boxes with gameplay-affecting items persist in Ultimate Team, leading some to consider it a pay-to-win experience. Facing a vociferous backlash, EA changed Battlefront 2's loot box system, with executive Patrick Söderlund admitting at the time the company had " got it wrong". It was loot boxes that caused EA to hit the mainstream headlines back in 2017 with Star Wars Battlefront 2, a game that was mauled online for a system players said took advantage of them. It's this real-world money aspect of Ultimate Team's loot boxes - and the fact the loot boxes contain gameplay-affecting items - that has caused so much controversy for the mode and EA over the years.īut EA's loot box controversy is not the exclusive preserve of FIFA. You can buy these card packs with either a virtual currency called FUT Coins, which is earned primarily through gameplay, or with a virtual currency called FIFA Coins, which is bought with real-world money.