The Division of Administrative Jurisdiction of the Netherlands, the highest court of the nation, has sentenced that the fine imposed on 2020 A FIFA will be canceled by its Loot boxes. It was the court of the Hague, which ruled this sanction, which implied a payment of 500,000 euros weekly by Electronic Arts until the packs of their most recent games, some numbers that would have ascended up to 10 million of euros. At that time, EA appealed the ruling of the Dutch Entity, until the recent resolution yesterday.
Now, the Supreme Court of the Netherlands has ruled that the previous fine was “an unjustified sanction”, and that this system to open envelopes in FIFA is not “a separate game”, but is included within «a game Skill »Larger with the addition of a” probability element “. This justifies that the Electronic Arts “has not violated the Law of Gaming and, therefore, the Play Authority should not have imposed a coercive fine to the publisher” and it has ended being revoked.
“The vast majority of packages are obtained and used to participate in the game,” we can read in the sentence. “The merchantability of the packages in the black market is relative. The Black Market focuses mainly on Complete Account Trade more than in individual packages or its content. As the packs are not an independent game, they are not a game of chance and do not require a license ».
Eurogamer United Kingdom has been contacted EA to request opinions on this: “Today’s decision confirms our belief that no aspect of FIFA or FIFA Ultimate Team can be considered as a game according to Dutch law,” says the spokesman. «In Electronic Arts, our game design approach prioritizes election, fun, equity and value. Our priority has always been to make sure that our players in the Netherlands and around the world have a positive experience. “
