Ultimate Team

[8] In this edition it was downloadable content only available on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, and similar to a mode in the previous EA Sports game UEFA Champions League 2006–2007.[19] Another way to play and earn rewards in Ultimate Team is through the Moments, though this is not considered a gaming mode and is a form of in-game skills training.[27] Microtransactions used to purchase the packs are more lucrative than the sale of the video game, with the revenue generated from Ultimate Team "appraised at $1.6 billion in 2021".[26] In 2022, EA reported that only 10% of packs opened in 2021 game FIFA 22 had been paid for; this raised concerns about whales, gamers who disproportionately spend on microtransactions.[28] In 2020, NME's Jordan Oloman described the pack opening sequence as featuring "glitz and pomp" and being a "glamorous runway that is engineered to give me dopamine.[24] The changes focused on removing the previous need to have player cards with connections in adjacent positions for chemistry to be applied.Radio Times compared the feature to an RPG, and suggested it would be most popular among gamers who wanted to play as their favorite footballers from lower divisions in the game and could make such player cards better.[26] In 2021, Twitch streamer and YouTuber ScudzTV wrote a viral Twitter thread criticizing the in-game encouragement, and apparent need, of pay-to-win in Ultimate Team.The thread saw many responses in agreement that it did not feel possible to have a competitive edge in the game without paying for packs, with the alternative being impossibly time-restrictive.[21] The random nature of packs and the ability to buy them with real currency has caused them to be negatively compared to gambling "for as long as they've been around".[39] Gamers are incentivized to continue opening more packs through intermittent reinforcement schedules – being irregularly vindicated in their behavior – due to packs providing better content irregularly, with "the mechanisms underlying the effectiveness of loot boxes [...] considered similar, if not identical, to the reward schedules that are used in the design of slot machines, making them addictive by design.[28] In 2023, the district court of Hermagor in Austria ruled that the packs were a form of "illegal gambling" in violation of Austria's gambling laws, and that gamers should be refunded; the lawsuit had been filed by PlayStation gamers against its manufacturer, Sony, due to packs being bought on the platform-specific PlayStation Store.
A representation of the squad building user interface in FIFA 21 and eleven Icon player cards arranged in a team. This was the best overall team possible to use in the game, dubbed the "dream team", and a subject of pay-to-win controversy. [ 11 ] [ 21 ]
List of Ultimate teamsMadden NFLFIFA 18FIFA 20EA Sportsassociation footballsimulation video gameEA Sports FCFIFA 09gamersall-star teamfootballerscomputer AIThe AthleticStreaminginfluencersvirtual economyloot boxgamblinggame of skilldownloadable contentPlayStation 3Xbox 360UEFA Champions League 2006–2007Microsoft PointsNintendo SwitchEA Sports FC 24difficulty settingFIFA 22current-generation consolesonline connectionuser interfaceFIFA 21pay-to-wintrading cardsaesthetic customizationEuropean club competitionloot boxesmicrotransactionsElectronic ArtswhalesLionel MessiCristiano RonaldoKylian MbappéKarim BenzemaRobert LewandowskiKevin De BruyneAlexia PutellasErling HaalandAitana BonmatíFIFA 23playing positionScreen RantRadio TimesSports IllustratedstreamYouTubeTwitchIShowSpeedTheGrefgYouTuberTwittergrindingmonetizationslot machineshabitual gambling behaviorvideo game addictiongambling legislationHermagorPlayStationPlayStation StoreFederal Trade Commission@EASPORTSFCEA Sports FC seriesFIFA seriesInternational SoccerSoccer 95Soccer 96Football 2002Football 2003Football 2004Football 2005FIFA World Cup seriesWorld Cup 982002 FIFA World Cup2006 FIFA World Cup2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa2014 FIFA World Cup BrazilStreetStreet 2Street 3FIFA Soccer 64FIFA Manager seriesFIFA Online seriesFIFA Online 3FIFA Online 4→EA Sports FC OnlineFIFA SuperstarsFIFA WorldMobile seriesEuropean Championship seriesUEFA Euro 2000UEFA Euro 2004UEFA Euro 2008Champions League seriesZico SoccerJ-League Winning GoalThe F.A. Premier League StarsFootball AcademyFIFAe World CupFIFAe Nations Series