Over the past few years EAās FIFA series has been the target of multiple investigations and government hearings across Europe, with some countries concerned that the gameās flagship Ultimate Team mode is basically gambling, and others convinced that it is and taking action.
Belgium is perhaps the most famous example, but earlier this year an Austrian court also decided that the market for FIFAās Ultimate Team card packs constituted illegal gambling. At the time not much else was made of the decision, but a report from German site Gamesmarkt (via GI.biz), saying Sony hasnāt appealed the decision, shows that the ruling now has a cost.
While details of the case itself canāt be published for the public, Gamesmarkt reports that Sony now has to refund the plaintiff in the 2022 case ā¬336.26 (USD$364). That might not sound like much, but itās just an initial cost; Padronus, the law firm bringing the case, says they have āseveral hundredā more clients lined up, and given the ruling in this first case thereās now a precedent for them to be refunded as well.
If youāre wondering why Sony is having to do this, and not Electronic Artsāthe actual developers and publishers of the gameāitās because the transactions in this case in particular were made on the PlayStation Store, making Sony liable. Though given the courtās ruling, you would think it would be easy to apply the same rules to sales of the gameāand itās FIFA Ultimate Team packsāon every other platform itās available on, from Xbox to PC.
FIFAās Ultimate Team is a hugely-popular online mode where users open packs of virtual cards and can add the randomly-inserted players to their team. The fact youāre paying for the decks, and that the contents are random and unknown to the player, is the main reason so many governments have either decided this is gambling, or are coming very close to doing so.
