There used to be many lawsuits related to the random nature of FIFA game items in Austria, but now everything has come to an end.
According to Insider Gaming, in 2021, a 17-year-old teenager spent a number of points equivalent to 300 euros to open FUT packages (FIFA’s Ultimate Team) in the FIFA game, he then commented. that he had been lured into this game of chance. This player has decided to file a lawsuit against Sony and hire a lawyer to help him get justice.
His lawyer insisted to the Austrian court that the loot box mechanism was illegal, as only the state-run Österreichische Lotterien GmbH and Casinos Austria AG were available. the right to provide gambling services of chance.
This lawsuit is where the serious debate about loot boxes began and also where the first demands appeared to force Sony to refund ‘victim’ gamers.
Around the same time, a number of similar lawsuits arose. Finally, a year later, the authorities in Austria argued that the loot box mechanism – which included FIFA player opening packs – was illegal in the country based on the Games Act of Austria (The Austrian Gaming Act) 1989. It was also decided that Sony would be fined even though FIFA was developed by Electronic Arts (EA), this was because the transactions in the PlayStation store were signed by Sony .
According to a note obtained by Eurogamer.net, up to 85,000 euros have been ‘poured’ into FIFA’s FUT package for ‘good luck’. However, so far, Sony has only refunded 338.26 euros to the teenager who filed a lawsuit against the company in 2021.
Not only that, one platform has reported that an Austrian court has also ordered all FIFA player packs to be listed as a game of chance, which means EA may need to obtain a license. gambling business to offer FUT packages in Austria.
This is the latest controversy in a series of lootbox-related allegations. Recently, the Netherlands and the UK ruled that lootboxes should not be considered gambling, while Belgium enacted a lootbox ban a few years ago.