EA continues to use lootboxes in FIFA and other games
Publisher Electronic Arts said in the discussion of the quarterly figures that it will continue with the lootboxes at FIFA ultimate team . This is a lucrative game mode from, for example, FIFA 18, in which players can buy tickets, without knowing which player is being acquired.
Andrew Wilson, the Electronic Arts ceo, said during an explanation of the quarterly figures that his company continue with FIFA ultimate team mode according to VentureBeat. Wilson says he continues to cooperate with regulators, stating that many of the regulators have determined that programs such as FIFA ultimate team do not equate to gambling. A lootbox mode such as the one from FIFA ultimate team is also in EA games like Madden NFL, NHL and NBA Live.
According to Wilson, this is not to be considered as a form of gambling, because players always have a specified get a number of items in each card package. In addition, Wilson says that EA does not offer any possibility to trade the digital items or the virtual money for real money. However, there are websites that are set up to make this possible, something that EA is aware of.
Recently, the Belgian Gaming Commission threatened with millions of penalties, because among others in FIFA 18 lootboxes handled. As a result, according to the committee, it can be regarded as a game of chance.The authority investigated ten unspecified games, four of which, according to the authority, violated the gambling law. The publishers were given eight weeks to make adjustments. Gaming Authority finds lootboxes only a problem if its content is to be traded.
EA is probably trying to maintain these lootbox-based game modes because of the considerable amount of money it generates. The so-called live services where the income of, for example, FIFA ultimate team and the Battlefield premium pass are included, have an increasing share of the revenue. The digital sales of products and services yielded 1.05 billion dollars in the past quarter, of which $ 679 million came from live services. The latter amount increased by 31 percent compared to the same quarter a year earlier. The revenues from the sale of mobile games and game downloads are much lower and they also hardly increase.
In the first quarter of 2018 EA booked a profit of 607 million dollars while in the same quarter a year earlier came out with a profit of 566 million dollars. Sales increased slightly from 1.53 billion dollars in the first quarter of 2017 to 1.58 billion dollars in the past quarter. This growth is partly due to the revenue from microtransactions and lootboxes, partly because no major EA game was released in the past quarter.
According to Wilson, this is not to be considered as a form of gambling, because players always have a specified get a number of items in each card package. In addition, Wilson says that EA does not offer any possibility to trade the digital items or the virtual money for real money. However, there are websites that are set up to make this possible, something that EA is aware of.
Recently, the Belgian Gaming Commission threatened with millions of penalties, because among others in FIFA 18 lootboxes handled. As a result, according to the committee, it can be regarded as a game of chance.The authority investigated ten unspecified games, four of which, according to the authority, violated the gambling law. The publishers were given eight weeks to make adjustments. Gaming Authority finds lootboxes only a problem if its content is to be traded.
EA is probably trying to maintain these lootbox-based game modes because of the considerable amount of money it generates. The so-called live services where the income of, for example, FIFA ultimate team and the Battlefield premium pass are included, have an increasing share of the revenue. The digital sales of products and services yielded 1.05 billion dollars in the past quarter, of which $ 679 million came from live services. The latter amount increased by 31 percent compared to the same quarter a year earlier. The revenues from the sale of mobile games and game downloads are much lower and they also hardly increase.
In the first quarter of 2018 EA booked a profit of 607 million dollars while in the same quarter a year earlier came out with a profit of 566 million dollars. Sales increased slightly from 1.53 billion dollars in the first quarter of 2017 to 1.58 billion dollars in the past quarter. This growth is partly due to the revenue from microtransactions and lootboxes, partly because no major EA game was released in the past quarter.