FIFA or Casino? Why FIFA Feels More Like Gambling Than Football

By Adam Morolla 

I’m not sure exactly when FIFA stopped being about football, but I do know it’s starting to feel less like a game and more like a digital poker table in disguise.

FIFA (or EA FC now, for some reason) used to be about playing the beautiful game we all know and love. I would come home from school, hop online, and play matches with my mates all the time. Now, it’s about grinding, spending, or straight-up gambling just to build a team good enough to compete with everyone else, especially when your friends are bragging about their stacked squads.

I’ve spent years of my childhood playing FIFA. Opening packs, saving coins, praying to the FIFA gods that maybe, just maybe, I’d pack Ronaldo or Messi. But I never did. Instead, I got the same third-division goalkeeper from Finland… five times in a row.

According to a BBC article, loot boxes in games like FIFA have been linked to the problem of gambling, especially among younger players. 

Let’s be honest, FIFA Ultimate Team is basically a casino for football fans. You’re encouraged to spend real, hard-earned money on ‘FIFA Points’ to buy packs that offer only a chance (not a guarantee) at getting top players.

And the odds? Terrible. You’re far more likely to pull a nobody than a card that changes gameplay. EA was even forced to show pack odds in-game but that just highlighted how bad the chances really are.

YouTubers around the world, like Danny Aarons, who is a FIFA content creator, even claimed on ‘X’ that he spent 800,000 FIFA Points, which is equivalent to nearly $10,000 Australian dollars and didn’t pack a single Team of the Year (TOTY), which are some of the best cards in the game. 

Governments across Europe have started looking into the issue of video game loot boxes. In Belgium, for example, FIFA Points were banned entirely according to BBC Newsround. 

EA’s CEO Andrew Wilson still claims FIFA “can’t be considered gambling.” 

Sure Andrew.

Even when you’re not spending real money, you’re still paying with your time. You grind match after match, all for the reward of more packs. And those packs? Mostly rubbish, you’re literally caught in a never ending cycle for a year until the next FIFA comes out, then it happens all over again while EA’s making billions.

I know the Ultimate Team is addictive. It’s flashy. It taps into the thrill of uncertainty. But that’s exactly what makes it feel more like gambling than gaming. When kids pay $100 chasing a Ronaldo card that doesn’t show up, something’s seriously wrong. They’re not even using their own money, they’re using their parents’ credit cards to pay for it. That’s an even bigger problem.

FIFA used to be about skill on the pitch. Now it’s about luck in the store. If EA wants to keep calling this football, maybe it’s time to take the slot machine side out of it.