Comments on Recent FIFA Ultimate Team Media Reporting

We make games to be fun and enjoyable for large, global audiences.  FIFA is one of the largest games in the world with an incredibly vibrant and engaged community.  FIFA Ultimate Team (FUT) has been part of our FIFA games for more than a decade.  Tens of millions of passionate fans from all parts of the world love the experience, the connection to the real world sport, and the fun and excitement of competition that it provides. 

We seek every day to provide players with content choices that fuel their excitement and connection to the sport and their friends.  Which is why we're so disappointed in a recent media report about FUT which ignored important information and context, the result being a sensationalized story with a misrepresentation of the facts. 

The facts are:

• We always look for opportunities to introduce more players to modes in our games. Our FIFA players are expecting fresh content that makes the service exciting, so that’s a constant focus for us. 
• We do not “push” people to spend in our games. Where we provide that choice, we are very careful not to promote spending over earning in the game, and the majority of FIFA players never spend money on in-game items.  
• Summer is a very active time in our FUT community, and we ensure more of our new content and community events in the game are centered there. The new content that we introduce throughout the year includes extensive non-monetized rewards. Decisions to spend are always entirely optional.  
• Nothing in the leaked document contradicts this in any way - it shows how we are supporting engagement in our game during the summer period, not spending.
• We take very seriously our responsibility to provide players a safe and fun experience. 
• We don’t encourage young players to spend in our games, and we strongly recommend use of family controls to manage the content that children are allowed to access, their ability to spend in games, and how much time they can play. Our EA platform for PC games also includes dedicated Child and Teen accounts, so that all of our players and their parents can make informed choices about how they play.  And tools like FIFA Playtime help players take control of how they play, including the ability to set limits to manage their engagement and purchasing.

We also firmly disagree that FIFA or any of our games involve gambling.  Regulators in multiple countries around the world have stated publicly that where there is no cashout method, loot boxes do not constitute gambling.  We take great care to ensure that our games are played as designed, including by  taking action against those who violate our rules against trading outside the game.  We do not believe there is merit in any of the recent litigation filed in the U.S. or Canada and are confident the courts will agree.  Recently, a U.S. Federal Court judge dismissed a related case noting that “the lack of any real-world transferable value to items takes them outside” of the gambling laws.  So again, supported by all of these perspectives from authorities, we do not believe any aspect of EA’s games constitutes gambling.

We hope to see these facts more accurately represented in the future.  In the meantime, we continue to work every day to ensure our FIFA Ultimate Team players have the best possible experience playing the game they love.