In 2022, a 17-year-old from Austria, among over a thousand other FIFA players, filed a lawsuit against Sony over their FIFA Ultimate Team Pack loot boxes according to GamesRadar. These FIFA players reached out to the Padronus Law Firm, who specializes in online gambling cases, in order to recover the money they spent on these loot boxes, with the gamers in the lawsuit spending anywhere from €800 to €8,500. Recently, the verdict of the case came out in favor of the players, stating that Sony must refund players €338.26.
When it comes to the lawsuit itself, many have been confused as to why Sony themselves have been sued as opposed to the company behind FIFA, EA. According to TheSixthAxis, the reason for this is because the packs themselves are not distributed through EA. If the game itself or EA were selling the packs, then the lawsuit would not have to target Sony, however, these packs were sold through the PlayStation Store, which makes Sony the primary distributor of these packs. According to nme, the issue with this is these FIFA Ultimate Team packs should be classified as gambling games that require a license because of the packs’ fluctuating values. Sony does not have a gambling license, so this has been the cause of the legal issues.
This is also not mentioning some concerns brought up during the process about the idea that children are being exposed to online gambling without warning or limit. This is another concern that has gotten EA into trouble in other countries such as the Netherlands back in 2018. A report done by the Norwegian Consumer Council notes that the game industry can exploit children through the use of loot boxes, using FIFA 22 as a primary example of how this exploitation can occur. These loot boxes are able to employ many questionable tactics to get children to buy more than they should for the game, which is also evident from the Austrian lawsuit being started by a 17-year-old child.
All of this being said, Sony still has the right to appeal this decision. Although the amount being given to the players is negligible to a company as large as Sony, it is hard to say what the outcome will be now that the ball is in Sony’s court to respond.