As reported by Games Wirtschaft, a court in Carinthia, Austria has ordered that Sony Interactive Entertainment Network Europe Limited pay back just over $500 AUD to a group of several players who’ve sued the company for damages relating to the sale of FIFA Ultimate Team packs on the PlayStation Store.
The lawsuit, and ultimately the small court’s ruling, raised the concern that the mechanics of the FUT packs violated Austrian gambling laws by offering a buy-in with the possibility of a “financial benefit,” owing to how players can receive digital footballers that are worth more monetary value on the secondary market than the value of the packs they arrived in. The plaintiffs, including at least one minor, are reported as having spent over $600 collectively on FIFA packs.
#Eilmeldung Ein Gericht in Kärnten ?? gibt den Klägern in erster Instanz Recht: Sony Interactive verstößt mit den #FIFA-Lootboxen gegen das österreichische Glücksspiel-Monopol.#FIFA23 #Lootbox #FUT #EASportshttps://t.co/SpWiXMCzGm
— GamesWirtschaft (@gameswirtschaft) March 3, 2023
Loot box mechanics have long been the subject of debate and legal discourse, especially around the behemoth money-maker that is EA’s FIFA series and its Ultimate Team packs, but this is an early (if small-scale) example of a successful verdict, especially in Europe. In 2020, the Netherlands Gaming Authority won a legal battle against EA where it was demanded that the giant publisher pay up to €10 million in fines should it continue selling loot boxes in the country, but this was eventually found to not violate country’s laws around “games of chance” and was overturned.
Games Wirtschaft has also explained that Sony is the defendant in this case, and not EA, because the “purchase contracts” for the FUT packs in question were concluded through the PlayStation Store (and since Sony doesn’t have a gaming licence in Austria, the court considers these purchase contracts null and void). Sony is reportedly yet to respond to the Austrian court’s ruling but may still dispute the case.
You can read the original story including a history of updates on this particular case here.
