One click and the virtual treasure chest opens: Paul pays and plays in the FIFA online game in the hope of finding the mega star for his team. But most of the time there is a failure. Because it is the game manufacturer who wins here.
The football simulation game FIFA was launched 30 years ago. Today it has long been a classic in the computer gaming world on all platforms, consoles and even mobile devices. Millions of children and young people like Paul watch something on their screens every day. Real superstars such as Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Kylian Mbappé promote the game and are also available as virtual characters.
17-year-old Paul has built up his own team over the years – or rather, bought it together. The top stars can also be earned, but you have to play FIFA a lot and very well.
In fact, the only way to become a top team is with money. This is first put into the FIFA game currency and then into so-called loot boxes – virtual surprise packages similar to the Panini collectible pictures of yesteryear. The prices are also similar. Loot boxes in video games cost around one euro.
FIFA alone earned its creators $1.6 billion in 2021 through the sale of loot boxes. The market is gigantic: in 2020, revenue from loot boxes worldwide amounted to over 15.2 billion US dollars, and the trend is rising.
Because not only FIFA, but the majority of game providers rely on loot boxes, whether for consoles or mobile phones. Sometimes it’s weapons, sometimes it’s armor made of gold. But the lure is always that this item could be crucial to the success of the game.
Addictive Gambling machines
The addictive factor is high, the chances of making a meaningful profit are usually less than one percent. “I think to myself: Yes, now the money is gone and I didn’t get anything good, I should have known better. But next time it will happen just as quickly,” says Paul.
Since he was 14, Paul has gambled away more than 1,000 euros. The addiction therapist Christian Groß has been caring for young patients addicted to gambling for years at the Bernhard Salzmann Clinic in Gütersloh. He warns: “Today’s computer games, with these inherent gambling factors, pose an enormous risk for the development of gambling and computer gaming addiction in children and young people.”
What was once banned in age-restricted gambling dens is raging in millions of children’s rooms: gambling with real money. As in Paul’s case, the parents are only a few meters away, but are usually completely unaware.
The addiction therapist Christian Groß looks after young patients addicted to gambling at the Bernhard Salzmann Clinic in Gütersloh.
Too low Age restrictions?
In Germany, gambling is only permitted from the age of 18, but games with loot box content are sometimes approved for ages 0 and up. What constitutes gambling that is harmful to young people is not decided by the addictive factor; what counts here is a legal definition, says legal scholar Martin Maties from the University of Augsburg. With slot machines there is a chance of winning real money, while with computer games there is only a chance of a virtual reward.
But online platforms have long existed that exchange items from loot boxes won with real money back for real money. This would make the distinction obsolete, says Maties.
Martin Maties heads the E-Sports Law Research Center at the University of Augsburg.
In 2023, the FIFA game with its loot boxes was classified as gambling for the first time by an Austrian court in Vienna. With the consequence that the manufacturers have to refund the money spent on loot boxes. In Belgium, loot boxes have been considered illegal gambling since 2018.
In Germany, however, the industry and the entertainment software self-control (USK) continue to insist that they do not violate any laws. However, the federal government’s addiction and drug commissioner, Burkhard Blienert, is finally calling for political intervention and a clear age restriction for games with loot box content.
That would be revolutionary for the business model of the gaming world. Germany is the largest computer games market in Europe, with considerable tax revenue. It only gradually seems to dawn on adults that some of this is gushing out of children’s pocket money budgets and that there is also a risk of gambling and addiction.
You can see more about this in the Documentary “Gambling for children? – How FIFA & Co earn from kids” in the ARD media library.