Games industry veteran Peter Moore does not view FIFA Ultimate Team card packs as gambling.
Moore served as president of EA Sports when the mode was introduced in 2008 s FIFA 09. He later rose to other positions at Electronic Arts, before leaving to become CEO of Liverpool FC.
Speaking to
GamesIndustry.biz about his recent appointment as a director of mobile sports games publisher Nifty Games, we asked for his thoughts on the ongoing criticism against loot boxes and randomised monetisation mechanics, a debate in which Ultimate Team has been used as a prominent example.
Peter Moore, Nifty Games
Moore pointed to the history of sports enthusiasm, saying the concept of Ultimate Team goes all the way back to collecting cigarette cards in the 1920s and 30s as well as the UK s Lucky Bags packs of randomised sweets, toys and activities of his own childhood. The experience of opening something and not knowing what will be inside is appealing to many, hence the popularity of Ultim
A study by the Gambling Health Alliance suggests young people are not only regularly spending on loot boxes, but struggling to keep track of how much they have spent.
The organisation, which was established by the Royal Society for Public Health, has released a new report based on a survey of 611 young people from England, Scotland and Wales.
23% of 11 to 16-year-olds said they had paid money to open loot boxes, with 34% of all respondents saying they had first purchased them by the time they were 13, due to the lack of age restrictions on games containing the randomised monetisation mechanic.
The study found that 31% of young gamers say they are unaware of how much they have spent on loot boxes, while 33% say they do now feel in console of their spending.