FIFA Ultimate Team recognized as gambling in Austria. Sony must return the money to the player

An unprecedented verdict on microtransactions in FIFA Ultimate Team has been delivered in Austria. The court found the lootboxes to be gambling and ordered Sony to refund purchases made on the PlayStation Store.

In August 2020, news spread around the world about a certain 17-year-old trainee from the Austrian village of Weissbriach, who spent around 400 euros to buy random content boxes in FIFA Ultimate Team felt cheated and decided to get his money back. Although the game was published by Electronic Arts, Sony became party to the case as the purchase was made from the PlayStation store.

According to the portal Games Wirtschafft, Hermagor District Court classified FUT lootboxes as “illegal gambling”, which violates Austrian anti-gambling law and condemned Sony Interactive Entertainment Network Europe Ltd. to refund the payment of EUR 338.26 to the claimant. The court held that football stars acquired at random are traded on the secondary market, and therefore have land value.

The verdict is not final and Sony has the right to appeal to a higher court, but the court’s decision is causing strong emotions among those involved, as no ruling has been made in Austria on the legality of random boxes and the possibility of recovering money. The ruling also opens the door to other player claims and the potential imposition of sanctions on Sony and EA, and possibly the introduction of laws that limit or ban lootboxes in games altogether.

– The court’s decision caused a stir throughout the video game industry. There was no case law in Austria or Germany regarding the legality of loot boxes and the possibility of recovering payments made. Of course, the final verdict has not yet come, because the case will likely go to higher courtbut Sony and several other game companies should now watch their feet said Richard Eibl, director of the company padronus.

According to Eibl, his company providing legal services in the described case has already been contacted by many people who are also requesting refunds for lootboxes in FUT. On average, customers ask for 800 euros, but there is also an extremely extreme case where the player spent around 85,000 euros for the cards and also intends to recover the money spent.