While it has been a good while now since we’ve had a big controversy surrounding loot boxes and microtransactions in gaming, it’s worth remembering that those things are still being looked into in some regions, especially throughout Europe. One recent example is FIFA, which latest game has just rolled out on next generation consoles, and it’s Ultimate Team mode. It also seems with the latest update, EA is trying to get ahead of potential issues this could cause.
In the latest patch for FIFA 21, it was discovered that there was code for a potential message about the mode being disable. It’s a rather passive aggressive message, and you can see it below curtesy of FUT Watch. There’s no instances of this being used yet, so it seems to be a placeholder in the event of potential legislation
FIFA remains one of the best selling annual titles around, as can be seen from the UK chart performances for FIFA 21. The game’s Ultimate Team mode has been a big moneymaker for the franchise and EA, so it will be interesting to see what happens if some kind of official legislation comes down to restrict it in some way.
https://twitter.com/FutWatch/status/1336110917008953348?s=20
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