Gambling or gaming, chasing Messi on FIFA empties bank account

Popular football video game FIFA has in-game options where users can buy special players in packs, but contents of the pack are only revealed after completion of payment. In a very perplexing recent happening, four kids have spent nearly GBP 550 (Rs 47,025) in three weeks buying player packs hoping to find their favourite FC Barcelona player Lionel Messi online on the family's Nintendo Switch console.

The children’s father, Thomas Carter had earlier bought them a single pack worth around GBP 8 (Rs 684) and was not aware of the fact, that the kids understood how he had made the purchase. Nintendo although have agreed for a full refund to Mr Carter. However, FIFA which is produced and sold by Electronic Arts, the payments were made through their family’s Nintendo account. Regarding this, Nintendo refused to respond.

Mr Carter and his wife only realised this when their card was declined somewhere else because their bank account was empty. Speaking to BBC News, Mr Carter said, “I just never thought [the children] would do it.”

FIFA 19 is sold with certification for players under the age of 3, Mr Carter’s kids who are all under the age of 10 had not understood the impact of what they were doing he told BBC News. Even so, he thinks that the in-game concept of buying player packs without knowing what was inside them was unethical, “You pay GBP 40 for the game, which is a lot of money in itself, but then the only way to get a great team is essentially by gambling,” adding to that, “They spent GBP 550 and they still never got their favourite player, Lionel Messi.”

In a report issued by Internet Matters, it said 26 per cent of the 2,000 parents of four to 16-year-olds were concerned about the amount of money their children were spending on in-game purchases.