EA Sports Facing Law Suit Over FIFA 20 Loot Boxes

• EASports is being sued over one of the features found in their video game FIFA 20.
• A lack of parental supervision and allowance could be the cause of kids gambling on FIFA loot boxes.
• There may be alternative solutions to this issue.

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. - Karim Morand-Lahouazi and Victor Zagury, two French lawyers, are planning on suing EA Sports over their “Loot Box” feature seen on FIFA 20.

The two attorneys are claiming that this feature is indeed gambling and that the game provides underage gambling at that.

Why EA Sports Is Being Sued

EA Sports will be facing legal action against one of its features on the FIFA videogame series. The feature is known as the “Loot Box.” This feature is basically a mystery box that can be purchased in the game itself.

The problem with this is that FIFA is rated “E” meaning for everyone and all ages. Being that it is meant for everyone, anyone can make these purchases including game users that are under 21 years old. When using this feature, users are to purchase these loot boxes in which they do not know what they are receiving.

It does not look well in EA Sports favor since all signs are pointing to it being gambling. The fact that the user does not know what they are receiving at the time of the purchase could be unsettling to parents and in fact, raise red flags in the eyes of the law.

EA Sports has made a remark in its defense saying that because the items cannot be re-sold, it is not gambling.

Possible Win/Win Outcome

Although the game does not have any parental controls because it is rated “E” for everyone, here are some possible solutions that could keep both sides content.

EA Sports should take out the “paying for Loot Box” feature and replace it with these loot boxes being awarded to the user for in-game achievements. Another viable option that could go hand-in-hand with this would be if in-game purchases required both age verification as well as payment verification so that parents have to stay alert if a purchase is made.

While future games might be set up that way, the fact remains that EA Sports didn't pay attention to whether or not their loot boxes were a form of legal gambling. It may be because the concept of loot boxes is not new in the video game world.

For the time being, the simplest solution would be just for parents to pay more attention to what their children have access to in these videogames.