Top Class Actions’s website and social media posts use affiliate links. If you make a purchase using such links, we may receive a commission, but it will not result in any additional charges to you. Please review our Affiliate Link Disclosure for more information.
A group of gamers has lodged a class action lawsuit against EA Sports over its “loot boxes,” called “Player Packs,” that they say are falsely advertised to consumers.
Lead plaintiffs, Jason Zajonc, Danyael Williams, and Pranko Lozano, allege in their complaint that gamers who play various sports video games made by Entertainment Arts Inc. (EA) are duped into thinking that purchasing additional features for the games can make their teams better and more competitive.
Instead, say the plaintiffs, EA Sports is actually using artificial intelligence to encourage players to purchase the packs by giving them false information about their video game team.
“Since 1991, EA has developed and released annually a variety of sports simulation video games under its EA Sports label, available on a wide variety of gaming platforms,” explains the complaint. “Modern versions… include an option for online gaming.”
According to the class action lawsuit, EA Sports advertises the authenticity of its games, describing them as “hyper-realistic” and “delivering you gameplay control with precision and intent” in its marketing materials. While gamers can play against the computer and other gamers with existing teams, the plaintiffs say that the most popular mode is Ultimate Team Mode, or UTM, which allows gamers to create their own dream team for online games.
The class action lawsuit contends that within the past few years, EA has developed and used artificial intelligence technology to take advantage of gamers who play UTM by duping them into shelling out additional money for the chance to make their teams better.
“During the preceding four years, EA made, and continues today to make available for sale to Ultimate Team gamers in-game ‘loot boxes,’ called ‘Player Packs,’ which gamers redeem to receive randomized ‘Player Cards,’ representing players with varying skill, summarized in a player rating,” states the complaint. “Loot boxes are games of chance, and gamers who purchase Player Packs hope to get lucky and receive highly-rated players for use on their Ultimate Teams, so as to be more competitive in Ultimate Team Mode matches.”
The class action lawsuit alleges that EA perpetuates the myth that gamers can get lucky by purchasing a Player Pack that happens to have a highly-rated player to add to their team. However, the company actually deploys artificial intelligence programs, including Dynamic Difficulty Adjustment (DDA) and Adaptive Difficulty (Difficulty Adjusting Mechanisms), to manipulate gamers into purchasing the loot boxes.
“This is a self-perpetuating cycle that benefits EA to the detriment of EA Sports gamers, since Difficulty Adjusting Mechanisms make gamers believe their teams are less skilled than they actually are, leading them to purchase additional Player Packs in hopes of receiving better players and being more competitive,” explains the complaint.
According to the class action lawsuit, EA’s DDA and DAM technology can make players used in the video games run faster or slower, fail to catch passes, or miss shots in order to keep gamers engaged and spending money.
However, the company advertises the video games as mirroring the real world “where the outcome of matches depends solely on the gamer’s competence and the strength of the players on his or her team, as compared to his or her opponent’s competence and team strength.” EA’s allegedly undisclosed manipulation of the video games violates consumers’ expectations.
Indeed, the plaintiffs say that EA’s use of artificial intelligence programs to manipulate gamers deprives video game consumers of the benefit of their purchase and injures them financially by tricking them into purchasing more Player Packs.
According to the complaint, the deceptive artificial intelligence and use of Player Packs were deployed in the 2017 to 2021 versions of three EA Sports franchises, including Madden NFL, FIFA, and NHL.
The EA Sports class action lawsuit seeks to represent all U.S. consumers who purchased these video games since Nov. 9, 2016, as well as a subclass of those who purchased Player Packs or Player Cards for the games.
The plaintiffs accuse the video game company of violating California consumer protection laws, false advertising, and unjust enrichment. They are seeking damages, as well as a court order stopping EA from the alleged misrepresentation of Player Packs and Cards in their video games.
This is not the first class action lawsuit the video game maker has faced over its loot boxes. A California resident alleged the loot boxes amounted to gambling and perpetuated addictive behavior in gamers in a lawsuit filed earlier this year.
Do you play EA Sports video games? Do you think EA is tricking gamers into purchasing Player Packs? Tell us your experience in the comment section below!
The lead plaintiffs and proposed Class Members are represented by Jack Fitzgerald, Trevor M. Flynn, and Melanie Persinger of The Law Office of Jack Fitzgerald, PC and Paul K. Joseph of The Law Office of Paul K. Joseph, PC.
The EA Sports Class Action Lawsuit is Zajonc, et al. v. Electronic Arts Inc., Case No. 3:20-cv-07871, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.
Read About More Class Action Lawsuits & Class Action Settlements:
49 thoughts onEA Sports ‘Player Packs’ Mislead Gamers, Says Class Action Lawsuit
Absolutely they are letting kids gamble with loot boxes. Spent hundreds and hundreds of dollars. I’m in.
Please add me.
EA Sports is messed up like a soup sandwich. THEY ARE THE THE CHEATERS. Bilking the the worlds children of hard earned money.
Add me please….
Please add me, once I stopped spending in game for fifa 21, the dda got worse and I was able to feel the gameplay difference clearly
Add me. I purchased several for my kids and myself
Please add me!
I would like to join as soon as its available
Can I please get added to this lawsuit! EA is really taking advantage of their customers with this! My son is tricked into buying misleading packs on a regular basis. He uses his own money from chores etc and I am tired of him being let down and mislead. Please help!
Please add me too this
I’ve dumped thousands of dollars into these player packs. It’s a complete scam and assault on the paying customer pocket. ABSOLUTE GREED!!! You never get the good players. The shots change in superstar mode & the computer players consistently move faster than your guys with your overall 98 and computer 99. It’s very stressful. I’m a first generation gamer. I only play madden & 2k. I’m 46 years old and my blood pressure is through the roof and I think it’s in large part to the stress of playing a game that’s supposed to be entertainment & fun but turns out to be stressful, highly angering, and extremely costly. I even tried to leave the developer a message about how they are defrauding the very people that made then rich in the first place. They wouldn’t let me send the message through. It kept telling me I was using inappropriate language. Then I realized that was a way for them not to answer to the consumer. They’re gonna lose a loyal first generation gamer because this isn’t fun anymore. After a long day at work you get home and open a cold brew and play the game you love with the homies. The ultimate team idea was genius. Only if they worried more about the game being the best experience for the people that made them rich and less about money it would be a great product along with some other tweaks like having an array of players to choose from. You get on line and everybody’s team is damn near the same.
I’d like to be added to. And also…Darenda, you are not alone!!! I’m 47…and really don’t enjoy the PvP aspect in FUT… I mainly do squad battles. Anyone that’s played this knows you can’t fulfill the season objectives if you stay off rivals. I’m not gonna lie… I actually had a little pack luck this year. But in Jan., when my team was a 90 ovr, I was getting trounced by 83-84 rated squads. It’s like someone filled my player’s shoes with cement. So no one thinks I’m “trash”, I’ve played over 60 silver lounge matches (only silver players), and only have lost 5. It really, truly makes no sense to me. But it IS massively stressful! This will be my last Fifa game until this is resolved… it’s sad because they actually added co-op play (finally) But I can’t justify to myself “dumbing down” my squad so I don’t get run over by dynamic difficulty…
Add me unfair odds on packs