Is This The END For Loot Boxes?
With EA finally disabling FIFA Points in Belgium, could similar rulings follow elsewhere?
Chances are, if you bought a game in 2018 - and it had multiplayer - it will have had something to do with loot boxes, or some other form of micro-transactions. Popularised by the likes of Overwatch, DOTA II and even in instalments from the Call of Duty franchise, loot boxes typically enable players to acquire unique cosmetics, but some titles - like Call of Duty, and more pertinently, FIFA Ultimate Team - offer gameplay advantages too, with players able to spend real world currency to get a chance of 'packing' a specific item they're after.
It's effectively a game of chance, and though most of these packs can be unlocked by grinding out in-game currency, it is the issue of microtransactions specifically that has become a major controversy. EA reportedly earns an estimated $1 billion each year from players purchasing FIFA Points with real-life currency, and with the added element of chance ever present, it shouldn't be all that surprising to hear that governments are starting to consider it a form of gambling.
One country that has been getting particularly vocal regarding loot boxes has been Belgium, which ruled in September last year to launch a criminal investigation regarding EA's business practices. In its wake, several other video game publishers, including Activision Blizzard and 2K Games, decided to remove loot boxes from the Belgian versions of their games, but EA have now only just relented, stating that: "After further discussions with the Belgian authorities, we have decided to stop offering FIFA Points for sale in Belgium."
The statement, posted on EA's website on Tuesday, reiterates the publisher's own stance refuting the Belgian government's own position, but it stands to reason that more countries could follow their lead and cause EA and other publishers a significant headache in other territories.
"We seek to bring choice, fairness, value and fun to our players in all our games. In addition to providing players options in how they play, we include pack probabilities in our games for the transparency players want to make informed content choices. While we are taking this action, we do not agree with Belgian authorities’ interpretation of the law, and we will continue to seek more clarity on the matter as we go forward.
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Ironically, it also ends with a comment on how the ruling "is not material to [EA's] financial performance", which begs the question: why are loot boxes even there in the first place?
It bears mentioning that Belgium is only one country, but with the state of Hawaii having also attempted to regulate the sale of loot boxes in the past, who's to say that other lawmakers won't sit up and take notice? If so, this could potentially signal the start of the loot box trend coming to an end, and for those left vexed by microtransactions in particular, that can only be good news.