OPINION: FIFA Points is Gambling for Kids

 EA Sports have been around for long enough to know what they are doing to young minds when it comes to FIFA and their Micro-Transactions, and yet they still refuse to age restrict some of their content or remove it altogether.

When a user buys FIFA points, it allows them to exchange them for packs which they can then receive players in return, but it is never guaranteed they receive what they feel is value for money.

If you spend £80 on FIFA Points, you should be expecting some high rated players such as Messi, Neymar Mbappe etc, but this is never ever the case, and some players end up spending upwards of £1000 over the course of the game cycle.

The no guarantee element of getting your money’s worth and to constantly return to buy more is straight up gambling and yet this still remains to children of all ages, with the title FIFA still rated PEGI 3, This can lead to problems later on in life for children, especially when they start to spend their own income on other forms of gambling or if they continue to purchase FIFA Points.

EA Sports release promos in their mode Ultimate Team almost every fortnight, and with the recent release of Team of The Year, it is the perfect example of EA’s scamming way. There are a total of 12 special cards that can be packed from the promo, but very little chance of packing one. With the high boost of stats, it makes it enticing for a player to purchase FIFA Points to buy packs or to then buy players to complete expensive Squad Building Challenges specific for each promo.

There are times where just playing the game can reward the player fairly, but to get the proper tier players, unless you save your coins really well, it will be virtually impossible to get any special cards of high value, giving the game of FIFA known as the “pay to win” game, with players only able to experience these players once they’ve spent over three figures on the game, this is on top of what is usually around £90 when people first buy the game to gain early access and some points preloaded on their account.

Something must change, this element of gambling in what is supposed to be a game for all ages cannot be accepted, but with it being the main money maker for EA Sports, it’s hard to see them remove it, so there must be some restriction be put in place. One way is to reward the player better for them to receive these high rated players more easily, or to age restrict the game, by making it an 18 plus, as this is when people are allowed to gamble, not that they should. With high levels of debt for addiction, EA Sports must do something before it becomes even more of a widespread issue.