After I’d wrapped up my interview with EA’s Chief Experience Officer Chris Bruzzo on FIFA’s loot boxes, I felt like I was clear on one thing: the company is willing to lightly edit the way Ultimate Team’s controversial monetisation works, but the fundamentals? It’s sticking with those.
I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised. In our interview, Bruzzo makes the case for why EA believes it’s perfectly reasonable to sell loot boxes that contain gameplay-affecting items within FIFA, and I challenge him on that. If nothing else, I think it makes for an interesting back and forth – one that gives us a good idea of how EA thinks about its prize cash cow. I finished the interview with a better understanding of where EA’s coming from and where it’s going with Ultimate Team, but my opinion on it remains unchanged.
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What happens next? I think the situation is relatively clear cut. Unless the UK government clamps down on loot boxes and declares they should fall under current gambling legislation, the fundamentals of Ultimate Team’s monetisation will stay the same – no matter the grumblings of a vocal minority of players and websites such as Eurogamer. Sure, EA will tinker with Ultimate Team to placate its critics – a preview pack here, a pack probability there – but will it stop selling loot boxes with players inside? Only with a gun held up to its head.
So let’s imagine a future in which the government does hold a gun up to EA’s head. In such a situation, would EA simply turn off the ability to buy FIFA Points with real-world money in the UK? That was acceptable in Belgium, but in the massive UK market? Doubtful.