FIFA Ultimate TEAM from EA Games receives criticism from Gambling Addiction Norway – warns parents – NRK Nordland
On October 2, 2008, a “Ultimate Team” game mode was launched with FIFA 2009.
It was started in a new era for the classic game.
I can also start a huge source of income for EA Games.
– We have people who go to meetings with us weekly. People put in money but do not know what they are getting. The whole thing looks exactly like an online casino – and gives exactly the same excitement, says Pedersen in Spillavhengighet Norge.
Want a change in the law – so that the concept will be illegal.
NRK
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packages and Ultimate Team
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What is a package?
A package in the FIFA Ultimate Team is the same as a package of football cards in reality, only digitally. I each package is there and given the number of players.
Ratinger
Every player in FIFA has received a rating. It’s a number that says something about how good the player is. Erling Braut Haaland has a rating of 88, while a player like Patrick Berg has 73. The higher the number, the better.
What do the packages cost?
There are different types of packages in the game. They can be purchased in different ways.
- Through virtual money that the player earns through playing the game.
- Through FIFA Points, which cost money to buy.
The most expensive package with FIFA Points costs about 1000 kroner – and gives you 12,000 points.
What do the packages cost?
These points, which cost money, allow you to buy packages in the game. A package can cost anywhere from 150 points to 2000 points. The more they cost, the greater the chance of getting a good player. But you are never guaranteed something that has great virtual value.
What do you do with the cards?
The cards get the game used for things:
- They can be put on your ultimate team. Then you can play with the players you have in your club against other players in the world. If you have better players, it is easier to win matches. There are several different competition formers in the game where players can be used.
- The players you get in packages can be sold on the virtual market. A player like Ødegaard costs 750 coins (virtual money). By comparison, Ronaldo (the legend from Brazil – who has his own card) costs 7.5 million coins. If you want to save for Ronaldo, without spending money, you can spend hundreds, maybe thousands of hours on the game.
Pure gambling
The international gaming website eurogamer.net has investigated how much money the gaming company EA Games makes on mini-transactions in Ultimate Team.
FIFA Ultimate Team wants the most through 20 million players.
Magnus Pedersen in Gambling Addiction Norway says most players lure – and become addicted – it’s like internet casinos.
– It is identical and addictive. We look at this as pure gambling. We believe this should have been regulated as a completely different type of gambling, he says to NRK.
He says that they often receive inquiries from people who spend too much money through the computer game. First and foremost, it is about adults, but he is also concerned that young people will become addicted at an early age.
– It is definitely a source of recruitment. There are many children and young people who got to know different game functions early on – and through the game they can get the feeling that they can “beat the odds”. This can have major consequences in the long run.
– How big is this problem?
– There are quite a few inquiries, and there are examples of parents who ask for help after spending between 60 and 100,000 kroner.
– It is quite a description of how fast this can go wrong.
Spent 30,000 kroner
Associate Professor Rune Aune Mentzoni at UiB is himself a FIFA enthusiast. In addition, he has researched how great the chance is of getting something good in packages.
He spent 30,000 kroner on the game – and the results for himself.
– I set up and dream team before I started. When I finished, and had spent 30,000 kroner, I was still quite far from the team. I did not have to spend 100,000 kroner.
He made the attempt on an earlier version of FIFA. When the next edition came, the players were “old”, and they will not join the next version.
Everything starts again.
– It is quite high when you look at it that way, Mentzoni says about the results of his own research.
– The year I did the research, so-called “legends” were introduced on PlayStation. These were heavily marketed.
But even though FIFA advertised with the chance to get legends like Pele and Maradona, it turned out that it was almost impossible.
After spending 30,000, Mentzoni had acquired exactly zero “legends”.
– I think it’s pretty spiny. The financial model in Ultimate Team is simply over.
NRK has sent several questions to EA Games, but I can not get comments.
Talk to the kids
EA Games has written some information itself about the probability of getting a good player in each package.
Men, the information is somewhat unclear:
“These probabilities are intended as examples only. The actual probability of a Premium Gold Package may be different, but this is shown in the end product. »
A quick search on YouTube or Twitch shows and other important moments with Ultimate Team. Players who stream have several thousand viewers – and often the viewer numbers are the best when they open packages. Not when they play football itself.
– It is at best doubtful that children are exposed to this type of marketing and buying pressure, says Mentzoni from UiB.
He is supported by Magnus Pedersen in Gambling Addiction Norway.
– It is direct marketing for products we do not want young people to be exposed to, he says.
I can also say that he can play packages that present on – are strikingly similar to regular money games.
– It is by no means accidental. This is accurately calculated and research is behind the psychological effects. Lots of sound and light. Even when you get a bad player, he can even add:
– This gives you the impression that you almost got a good player. That there is a god playing around the corner. It is a clear resemblance to ordinary gambling.
– Parents who are worried that the child will become addicted – do you have any advice for them?
– Parents must talk to the kids about this. Show interest in what a young player is playing. Why is this so popular? Talk to them about why it gets intense. There can be many reasons why they want to spend money on this, and then it is important that parents talk about it.
New law on the way
NRK has also asked the Norwegian Lotteries Authority how they view the case.
They refer to the fact that there is an ongoing legal process now with a new gambling law, and they further refer to the work and what has been said in the proposition to the new law.
The government has has just submitted its proposal for a new gambling law to the Storting.
– It is not the Norwegian Lotteries Authority that makes laws and regulations for this area, but our task is to administer the regulations that the Storting and the government at the Ministry of Culture make.
In and of the chapters of the proposal, FIFA is specifically mentioned:
– As we read the proposal for a new gambling law, the list for defining elements in computer games under the gambling regulation must be high, writes the Norwegian Lotteries Authority.