According to the CBC, leaked internal documents provided by a "gaming source," Electronic Arts wants to "steer" FIFA players to the game's "Ultimate Team" online mode, where they can spend more money through the purchase of loot boxes

It appears that last year, the company announced that it would be offering a new online mode called "Ultimate Team.

One page of a document that appears to be part of last year's internal presentation of the "run-up to FIFA 21" (FIFA 21 was released in October 2020) states that teasers and messaging will "promote excitement and drive players from other modes to FUT (FIFA Ultimate Team)," it says. Another noted that the return of professional soccer "will only help us and plans are ready to be flexible."

"Players will be actively messaging and incentivized to convert during the summer months.

"FUT is the cornerstone and we are doing everything we can to drive players to FUT.

None of this will come as a surprise to FIFA fans and avid gamers of all genres. Loot boxes have long been a source of controversy: some in the industry have defended them, governments have considered (and in some cases imposed) regulations on them, and some developers and publishers have struggled to find ways to keep them alive without diluting their value.

Because ultimately, loot boxes are very lucrative: in its most recent financial report, Electronic Arts announced that the number of FUT matches increased by 177% year over year and that FIFA's live service has experienced a compound annual growth rate of nearly 50% over the past 10 fiscal years.

"Our Ultimate Team and Apex Legends live services performed well during the quarter."

"We are raising our full-year net sales outlook on continuing the strength we are seeing in our business.

At the same time, the backlash against loot boxes has not subsided: rating agencies such as the ESRB, PEGI, and Ukie have declared that loot boxes are not a form of gambling, as have French and British gambling regulators. However, some governments disagree and have taken aggressive measures: in October 2020, a Dutch court fined EA €10 million over FIFA's loot boxes, and more recently Germany tightened its rating requirements for games with loot boxes. The U.S. government has also made noises about tighter regulation of loot boxes.

EA has also come under fire at the consumer level, with a class action lawsuit filed against the company in 2020 accusing it of "operating an unauthorized and illegal gaming system through loot boxes."

In light of this, the CBC report does not seem particularly insightful or suggestive. If anything, the leaked document is almost indistinguishable from traditional business presentation slides or investor statements such as the following comments from EA's Q3 2021 earnings call:

"The size of the EA Sports FIFA player base will grow As we expand to include Generation Z, we will offer more and more great content on more and more platforms, along with longstanding partners in all the top leagues and teams in the sport. We will bring FIFA Online to new territories, including Russia, Poland and Turkey, with a total of 80 million players. We are also accelerating our focus on mobile and are currently developing six new soccer mobile experiences for different regions and genres."

Interestingly, however, while the buzz about loot boxes among gamers has cooled a bit, the public is still very curious and concerned about the topic, compared to the huge controversy surrounding the release of "Battlefront 2," for example. This could be bad news for EA, which is hoping that a friendlier and more transparent loot box system will help it escape scrutiny.

Update: In a statement, Electronic Arts said it was "disappointed" by the CBC report, calling it a "sensationalist article with factual errors" that ignored important information and background.

"We are always looking for opportunities to introduce more players to the game's modes, which is always important to us because FIFA players expect fresh content that makes the service exciting. We don't "push" you to spend in-game; the majority of FIFA players do not spend money on in-game items.

EA said the leaked documents do not point to anything malicious, but rather show a commitment to support their games and their players. He also refuted claims that loot boxes in FIFA and other games are a form of gambling, and expressed confidence that the company will prevail in the lawsuit filed against it.

"Recently, a U.S. federal court judge dismissed the related lawsuit, noting that the items have no real-world transferable value and thus are not covered by gaming laws. Therefore, supported by all of these observations from the authorities, we do not believe that any aspect of EA's game constitutes gambling."