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[IbizaPocholo]

'Kids should not be spending in FIFA full stop,' says EA

Well that's them told.

www.pcgamer.com

EA's Chris Bruzzo, who has the job title of chief experience officer, spoke to Eurogamer about some of the issues around FUT, and in the process dropped some figures that give you an idea of the scale here. Obviously Bruzzo emphasises that 9/10 FUT packs are opened by FUT Coins (earnable in-game currency), and 78% of the overall playerbase don't spend any money on the game beyond the initial purchase. He adds "30 million people played [FUT] last year, and 100 million in some form or another—mobile games and all over the world."

EA has also made changes to FUT packs in response to the increasing regulatory concern around loot boxes more generally: FIFA 22 includes probabilities for card packs, as well as FIFA Playtime which will allow individuals (and parents) to set their own restrictions.

That does lead, however, to perhaps the most serious issue around FUT. It is incredibly popular among a young audience. Bruzzo can say things like EA "actually want to treat [players] like full human beings who can make good decisions in their lives" but the whole 'choice' argument falls apart when we get to the question of kids. The EA line is, of course...

"Kids should not be spending in our game. Children should not be spending in FIFA," says Bruzzo. "[...] when we look at account signups we see a very low percentage of accounts of people under the age of 18. But more importantly, our default is set to no spending for accounts under 18. And we work with Sony and we work with Microsoft to also institute spending controls as a default for children. Kids should not be spending in FIFA full stop."

This itself exposes one of the absurdities of our current regulatory system, which is that FIFA 22 can, for example, get a 3+ rating in the UK—ie, it is an entertainment product suitable for all ages. Yet with that rating it is allowed to contain systems that, by the developer's own admission, should not be used by children. EA has even advertised FUT in childrens' magazines. "It was an oversight," says Bruzzo, "they included FIFA Ultimate Team in this toy catalogue. And we have apologised. We said it was a mistake. We do make mistakes."

 

[10101]

If that’s the case then they should be rating this as 18+/M. I know that purchases can (and should) be locked down at the account level for kids, however this should be highlighted better to parents which is best done through the age rating system.

I don’t give a shit about MTX myself (easily ignorable imo), but the whole adverts in kids mags thing shows they don’t really give a fuck and this is just lip service.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

So 22% of the player base buys mtx. Bigger than I thought.

You'd think the way mtx is talked about on game forums only 1% of gamers (rich whales) do the mtx thing.

 

[Clear]

If that’s the case then they should be rating this as 18+/M. I know that purchases can (and should) be locked down at the account level for kids, however this should be highlighted better to parents which is best done through the age rating system.

I don’t give a shit about MTX myself (easily ignorable imo), but the whole adverts in kids mags thing shows they don’t really give a fuck and this is just lip service.

Ratings are worthless, they aren't actually enforceable because a lot of adults/parents will allow kids access regardless. You know this is true, whether you agree with it or not. Its an advisory at best.

Bottom line, it all boils down to personal responsibility in the end.

Here's the thing; videogames have zero innate barrier to entry. Whether you're 7 or 70 you can play and enjoy. So essentially once we start down the "but, think of the children" line, ultimately what it leads to is questioning whether a certain sort of content can be justified for any age group.

Gambling is very bad for some people, for others its harmless fun. I don't like it myself, but it is what it is. Personally though, I think these horror stories about kids racking up huge credit card bills say more about them having shitty, stupid parents/guardians than anything else. And that's not a videogame culture problem, that's a straight societal problem.

 

[digital_ghost]

Just like kids shouldn't buy stuff in Roblox.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

If that’s the case then they should be rating this as 18+/M. I know that purchases can (and should) be locked down at the account level for kids, however this should be highlighted better to parents which is best done through the age rating system.

I don’t give a shit about MTX myself (easily ignorable imo), but the whole adverts in kids mags thing shows they don’t really give a fuck and this is just lip service.

Kids cant have credit cards.

So if they are milking their parent's credit card on their system profile, its the parents job to handle it. You cant blame Sony or MS because a 12 year old is using their dad's credit card he doesn't care to lock up or take off their profile.

I don't like my credit card on file either. I use Xbox dollars I load into my account a bit at a time I buy from Costco since it's 10% off.

If parents have a big cable TV sub plan with porn channels, is it the cable company's responsibility to investigate if kids are watching? Not to me. The parents should control access. And if they cant figure it out, get rid of the access by getting rid of the porn channels.

 

[NeoLed]

Edit : Seconds late to Beige from Beige

Stop giving kids credit cards or any purchasing power.

 

[Hawking Radiation]

Heard stories of kids emptying their parents wallets to purchase stuff on Fifa.
One dude had his kids dump 550 pounds into Fifa from his wallet.
Another kid spent north of $3 000 of his parents money on the game.

This is just one of the reasons why I absolutely loath Fifa and the developer. These fuckers are just using the name to drain people of their money and push out yearly updates in the form of new releases.

I feel the same towards Rockstar Games with GTAV. That pathetic fucking shit they call GTAV Enhanced is money greedy cunts seeing $$$ with people spending untold sums of money on their games. Its fucking disgusting.

 

[Hawking Radiation]

Edit : Seconds late to Beige from Beige

Stop giving kids credit cards or any purchasing power.

Parents can be downright stupid as well. Let's not just blame the kids here. Parents hold some sort of responsibility towards these kids getting out of control like gambling addicts.

If my kid tried any of that shit...

 

[StreetsofBeige]

Heard stories of kids emptying their parents wallets to purchase stuff on Fifa.
One dude had his kids dump 550 pounds into Fifa from his wallet.
Another kid spent north of $3 000 of his parents money on the game.

This is just one of the reasons why I absolutely loath Fifa and the developer. These fuckers are just using the name to drain people of their money and push out yearly updates in the form of new releases.

I feel the same towards Rockstar Games with GTAV. That pathetic fucking shit they call GTAV Enhanced is money greedy cunts seeing $$$ with people spending untold sums of money on their games. Its fucking disgusting.

Ya.

It's one of those things every company knows is scuzzy, but the right thing to do "for the corporation" is to keep it going but, PR it's bad to make some people feel better. Do it in the right combination and it gets through society as one part money maker, one part "it's not so bad".

It's really no different than government. Everyone knows smoking is bad for you. But government cant give up that giant tax money maker because it's too good. So on one hand they bad mouth it as a shitty cancer inducing product (from their PSA PR team), but have no problem allowing sale of it as long as they get huge tax cuts (the tax revenue team).

 

[MrHydra933BR]

PR bullshit.

 

[Topher]

Parents can be downright stupid as well. Let's not just blame the kids here. Parents hold some sort of responsibility towards these kids getting out of control like gambling addicts.

If my kid tried any of that shit...

Some parents just ain't that smart....

 

[DeepEnigma]

Parents can be downright stupid as well. Let's not just blame the kids here. Parents hold some sort of responsibility towards these kids getting out of control like gambling addicts.

If my kid tried any of that shit...

+1 for the Double Impact gif

“Yuuu of all peeeepelll shood know, I would neeeverrr in my life wear block seeelk underwears!”

 

[daywarf]

Make a sports game 18+ ,or it's the developer's fault？？？
it is really a crazy world

 

[Hawking Radiation]

Some parents just ain't that smart....

I've seen some people give alcohol to their kids, no lies.

I see my kid taking alcohol from anyone....

 

[CityHunter1981]

Noone child or not should spend all their time in any game. Look as much as I love games, there is more to life than just playing games, although I have to admit I learned this lesson late, after I met my wife and became father of 2 children.

 

[melekind]

Ea is a Chinese company?

 

[MrFunSocks]

This itself exposes one of the absurdities of our current regulatory system, which is that FIFA 22 can, for example, get a 3+ rating in the UK—ie, it is an entertainment product suitable for all ages. Yet with that rating it is allowed to contain systems that, by the developer's own admission, should not be used by children.

Nothing absurd about that IMO. Any competent parent will have parental controls set up so their kids can't buy these without their permission. Children shouldn't have credit cards or unrestricted access to online spending.

So 22% of the player base buys mtx. Bigger than I thought.

You'd think the way mtx is talked about on game forums only 1% of gamers (rich whales) do the mtx thing.

Yeah forums like this are the incredibly vocal and angry minority. Multiplayer + GaaS + Microtransactions are what the majority of game players like, yet this place thinks that no one wants any of that and that everyone just wants to play niche japanese weeb games and cinematic single player games.

 

[TLZ]

So 22% of the player base buys mtx. Bigger than I thought.

You'd think the way mtx is talked about on game forums only 1% of gamers (rich whales) do the mtx thing.

Not every spender is a whale. Most probably only 1% of them are.

 

[K2D]

Great. Add a big'ol gambling warning on the front of the box, move the box behind the counter, ask for ID at purchase, and ask for sign off online every time for every transaction.

 

[10101]

Ratings are worthless, they aren't actually enforceable because a lot of adults/parents will allow kids access regardless. You know this is true, whether you agree with it or not. Its an advisory at best.

Yeah, you’re right they are pretty worthless and unenforceable out in the world. They do affect what children can do on the system though through parental controls so not completely useless if the parents give a shit what their kids play and set it up.

And I agree, at the end of the day it comes down to the parents personal responsibility to ensure this isn’t happening. If someone wants to ignore age ratings, attach their credit card to their kids account then that’s on them. My comment was more about raising awareness for those parents that do give a shit and have set their stuff up correctly.

Kids cant have credit cards.

So if they are milking their parent's credit card on their system profile, its the parents job to handle it. You cant blame Sony or MS because a 12 year old is using their dad's credit card he doesn't care to lock up or take off their profile.

Oh for sure, I wasn’t suggesting that it was Sony or MS’s fault. They provide the tools to stop this stuff already, it’s up to parents to enforce it. If they are not it’s on them. And if they are not setting limits, parental controls or actually you know parenting, it’s on them. But EA shouldn’t be aiming this shit at kids imo, it’s a bullshit business practice

 

[Edgelord79]

Well... a "full stop" in any sentence means they're serious doesn't it.

 

[Orta]

Well don't release Fifa anymore then, in fact, close your shitty company down altogether you fucking shysters.

 

[GymWolf]

When i was young soccer games were about making tournaments with friends not all of these card packs bullshits...

 

[VolticArchangel]

NSA: "Snooping upon american citizens' smart devices in the name of national security, shouldn't be done, full stop."

 

[Nankatsu]

Kids shouldn't be spending, but hey, if they want to spend, who are we to stop them?

This is purely a PR stunt.

 

[Fuz]

Fucking hypocrites.

 

[Fuz]

When i was young soccer games were about making tournaments with friends not all of these card packs bullshits...

Eeeeh... non facevi l'album delle figurine?

Che ce l'hai doppio Facchetti?

 

[GymWolf]

Eeeeh... non facevi l'album delle figurine?

Che ce l'hai doppio Facchetti?

Parlavo di videogiochi.

E per le figurine c'era la componente umana, i giochi fisici per vincere altre cartine, sta roba online non è lo stesso...

 

[Hawking Radiation]

Great. Add a big'ol gambling warning on the front of the box, move the box behind the counter, ask for ID at purchase, and ask for sign off online every time for every transaction.

Add in fingerprints and a blood sample and we good.

 

[Fuz]

Parlavo di videogiochi.

E per le figurine c'era la componente umana, i giochi fisici per vincere altre cartine, sta roba online non è lo stesso...

Yeah, I agree those are two very different things (cards being a phisical object, tradable, resellable and the whole point of the card packs themselves, and definitely not as predatoy as lootboxes and so on).
But football wasn't just about making tournaments (and breaking knees).

 

[GHG]

Kids shouldn't spend money in FIFA.

But we need them to spend money in FIFA.

 

[GymWolf]

Yeah, I agree those are two very different things (cards being a phisical object, tradable, resellable and the whole point of the card packs themselves).
But football wasn't just about making tournaments (and breaking knees).

Again, i was talking about videogame soccer tournaments.

Usually i was the one breaking knees during real soccer since i was a big ass rough defenser with 50 size feet

 

[Notabueno]

The saddest part of it is "It is incredibly popular among a young audience".

With newer generation I thought we'd had less mindless couch potato douches playing FIFA (even though we've all played "Tsenegame" back when it was decent and not mtx crap filled), but then I guess Fortnite and mobile games which are no better didn't change that much.

Like many people in the thread, I'm blaming the douche parents.

 

[Cyberpunkd]

"Kids should not be spending in our game. Children should not be spending in FIFA," says Bruzzo. "[...] when we look at account signups we see a very low percentage of accounts of people under the age of 18. But more importantly, our default is set to no spending for accounts under 18. And we work with Sony and we work with Microsoft to also institute spending controls as a default for children. Kids should not be spending in FIFA full stop."

Great, then eliminate any payment method from accounts designated as under 18. Better yet, make it the default settings for ALL accounts. No? I thought so.

 

[K2D]

Add in fingerprints and a blood sample and we good.

I'm only half joking though..!

I have zero sympathy for corporations that uses shrinks (psychologists) to tailor gambling into gaming and push it to young and impressionable individuals.

 

[Panajev2001a]

Yet with that rating it is allowed to contain systems that, by the developer's own admission, should not be used by children. EA has even advertised FUT in childrens' magazines. "It was an oversight," says Bruzzo, "they included FIFA Ultimate Team in this toy catalogue. And we have apologised. We said it was a mistake. We do make mistakes."

 

[EverydayBeast]

The price of a game combined with buying in game content is more than the original price.

 

[Fake]

Predatory as fuck.

 

[DeepEnigma]

I've seen some people give alcohol to their kids, no lies.

I see my kid taking alcohol from anyone....

Horrible camera angle to sell that RB.

 

[MrS]

It's impossible to take this at face value when everything they do is geared towards getting players to play FUT. Fucking jokers. FIFA, Madden and 2K should be 18 rated because they all do this shit, period.

 

[The Pleasure]

Parents can be downright stupid as well. Let's not just blame the kids here. Parents hold some sort of responsibility towards these kids getting out of control like gambling addicts.

If my kid tried any of that shit...

If they ask you for that Fifa bullshit all you have to be is like do this

 

[newtypepilot]

lol it's just PR damage control.

Every EA and 2k sports titles are glorified casinso that's aimed at children. They are designed to exploit people with addiction tendencies.

 

[MrFunSocks]

Great, then eliminate any payment method from accounts designated as under 18. Better yet, make it the default settings for ALL accounts. No? I thought so.

It’s not EAs job to raise your kids. If you don’t want your kids spending money on micro transactions, take 2 minutes to use the parental controls so they can’t. Parenting 101. I don’t even have kids yet and my console requires authorisation for purchases.

 

[Kokoloko85]

How about EA actually puts some effort into the game and not use 2011 animations with lifeless gameplay, lifeless celebrations and lifeless commentating. Its so bad