In recent years, loot boxes and their place in gaming have been widely debated. EA in particular has borne the brunt of much criticism, with Battlefront 2 receiving flak for its extreme use of loot boxes; another game that has been criticized and even regulated by EA is the FIFA series and its Ultimate Team mode. Some have likened the loot boxes containing Ultimate Team to gambling. But Peter Moore, former president of EA Sports, doesn't see it that way.

Speaking to GamesIndustry.biz, Moore said he does not consider the FIFA Ultimate Team pack a gamble. Instead, Moore compared it to "collecting cigarette cards from the 1920s and 30s," or "lucky bags," an old British commodity that contained mystery candies, games, and other activities. The difference between gambling and a loot box, Moore argues, is that you don't come up empty-handed.

"You always get something. You never open it and find nothing in it." This is my personal view, but the concepts of surprise and delight and gambling ... On a continuum, they are far apart."

"You buy or grind to get a gold pack, open it, and either you're satisfied or you think it's a crap pack. I don't consider it gambling.

Moore says that the sheer number of packs sold and profits made by the Ultimate Team is a sign that people want this style of loot box to survive, and "the numbers speak for themselves."

Moore also touched a bit on the "Battlefront 2" debacle, saying, "We get scrutiny, and I understand that outside of sports, loot boxes (again, especially another EA title) get a lot of scrutiny and criticism, and EA has taken it back, and I think that's a good thing. One of the things they've always been good at is taking feedback and realizing, "Oh, maybe we shouldn't have done this," or "This was the wrong decision, it wasn't gamer-first," and retracting and making another decision."

The debate over loot boxes and how many degrees of separation it does or does not take away from gambling continues. Countries like Belgium and the Netherlands have regulated loot boxes as violating gambling laws; EA recently ran into trouble with the latter country and was fined €10 million for not changing its system.