In Austria, a court has ruled on FIFA Ultimate Team on PC, Steam Deck, PS4, PS5, Xbox and Switch. For him, the EA game does represent a form of betting and he orders Sony -as the manufacturer of PlayStation- to reimburse the amounts.

That itself directly collides with what happened a year ago, since at that time the Dutch Supreme Court annulled the sanction against EA considering that FIFA Ultimate Team is not a gambling game.

But now and half a year after the launch of FIFA 23, we once again have the debate around the soccer game developed by EA Sports.

All this is according to what they confirm from VGC, since Games Wirtschaft -a small court in the district of Hermagor- has ruled in favor of several Austrian FIFA players who sued Sony in 2020.

The lawsuit alleges that the plaintiffs, among whom a minor was increased, had "bet" more than 400 euros on the soccer simulator that today is already the last known FIFA.

Said lawsuit was carried out by the lawyer Ulrich Salburg alleging that the possibility of spending money in the random package system in FIFA went against the country's laws on envelopes; and that he intended to hold Sony responsible.

The FIFA logo after the World Cup could stain the EA shield on the cover

The report claims to have ordered Sony to return €338.26, but the company has not responded. Now, why does the FIFA Ultimate Team system violate the Austrian Gambling Law?

As indicated by this same court, it is because the contents of the loot boxes in FIFA have the possibility of being worth more or less money than the value of the pack per se and 'theoretically' offer a "benefit" to those lucky enough to receive an item of worth.

FIFA's Ultimate Team mode has had a lot of scrutiny across Europe these years due to its popularity and the potential to bring Electronic Arts big bucks.

Players assemble their "Ultimate Team" by acquiring objects that represent players -whether contemporaries or legends- by buying card packs that can fluctuate in price between €1.99 and €30.

The problem is the content of these packs, even if they are guaranteed (E.G. always 30 gold items in X pack), the quality of the players is random and that encourages users to open pack after pack until they get the desired player. .

The ability to purchase these FIFA Ultimate Team packs has been removed from certain territories such as Benelux, but in the vast majority of territories everything remains intact.

EA itself said this past February that FIFA 23 is on its way to becoming the most successful game in the history of the saga and in October 2022 it exceeded all records for EA Sports: 10.3 million players in its first week.

Now that FIFA Ultimate Team is a form of betting for an Austrian court and with it ordering refunds to PlayStation, how is this mess going to be fixed?