Microtransactions and lootboxes have started making waves for all the wrong reasons in mainstream AAA games of late, but they have been a mainstay of sports games for years, thanks to EA’s Ultimate Team modes, which they have added to all of their EA Sports lineup in the last few years.
Of course, now that EA is under fire for its inclusion of microtransactions in its games, all of them are coming under scrutiny, including its sports games- for instance, take NHL 18. As MP1ST reports, multiple Reddit users have realized that packs that ‘guarantee’ Christmas Collectible cards, for instance, have not gotten what they were promised- with one being told by an EA customer service representative that the items are not ‘100% guaranteed’, even though the pack literally says ‘1 guaranteed Christmas collectible.’
So… this is likely to blow back on EA in a big way. Ultimate Team is the empire on which their fortune is built- if the economy is proven to be a farce and players stop investing in it, EA would be in trouble. I hope they address this issue soon, for their sake.