FIFA 22 Loot Boxes Condemned For Needing £11,500 To Get Kylian Mbappe Card

A report has broken down the chances of obtaining a 'Team of the Year' Kylian Mbappe card from a loot box on FIFA 22 Ultimate Team, with a player having to spend nearly 1.7 million on FIFA Points to pack the PSG forward.

In recent years, EA Sports have faced lawsuits in both the US and France following backlash over microtransactions and loot boxes in FIFA Ultimate Team.

The Netherlands and Belgium have even clamped down on loot boxes by classifying them as gambling and banning them from usage in their respected country.

Now, a new report from The Norwegian Consumer Council has emerged calling for stronger regulations on loot boxes.

Backed by a total of 18 European countries, the report details how loot boxes 'exploit consumers with deceptive designs, skewed probabilities and aggressive marketing.'

It also provides case studies on the game, including a damning section on the chances of obtaining a TOTY Kylian Mbappe card on the Ultimate Team mode.

They say the following example illustrates the "diminishingly small" probabilities at play when opening a FIFA pack.

"A FUT player looking to pack the Team of the Year promo card of the cover star of the game, Kylian Mbappe, had less than two weeks to do so before the promo ended, and the card would no longer be available in packs," the report reads.

"The TOTY Mbappe card was prominently featured in the menus and on loading screens in-game.

"The pack with the highest probability of obtaining a card from the TOTY promo, the Jumbo Rare Players Pack, featured a 1.3% probability to receive a TOTY promo card, and cost 2 000 FIFA Points, equivalent to around EUR 20."

The NCC then calculated that to guarantee getting this card in game, someone would have to open 847 Jumbo Rare Players packs, which would cost 1.7 million FIFA points [£11,478 or $14,485].

"If the player is to obtain an TOTY card, they must beat a 1.3% probability," it adds.

"If the probability of packing a specific TOTY card is evenly distributed across these 11 cards, the probability of obtaining TOTY Mbappe from one Jumbo Rare Player Pack is 0.11%."

Image credit: Alamy

Back in 2020, a YouTuber once spent a full day opening over 3,000 FIFA packs to find out who and what he would discover.

ChrisMD and his cousin Ollie spent over 500,000 FIFA points, which is equivalent to 25,305,000 coins, in a concept he described as a "very real challenge" on his channel that has 4.85 million subscribers.

So what did they find? After a grueling day in front of the PlayStation, the pair made a total of 11,312,807 in sales, with their most notable pack including Cristiano Ronaldo, who at the time was worth 1.4 million on Xbox and 1.6 million on PS4.

They also packed 85-rated legend Pep Guardiola, 91-rated goalkeeper Jan Oblak and Liverpool centre-back Virgil van Dijk, among other big names.

In total, Chris calculated that he lost 13,999,193 coins, a sum he describes as "not that bad" considering previous luck.

The NCC, meanwhile, is calling for a number of new regulations, including the ban of “deceptive design to exploit consumers”, and for any games likely to be accessed by minors to have no loot boxes included.

"Although the video games industry is amongst the largest entertainment industries, it has often eluded serious regulatory oversight,” the report reads.

“Therefore, we call for stronger regulatory action against video game companies that fail to respect consumer rights and that prey on consumer vulnerabilities.”

Topics: Gaming, FIFA 22, EA Sports, Kylian Mbappe

Jack Kenmare

Senior Journalist at SPORTbible with a passion for long-form journalism. Almost 10 years’ experience across online and print.

@jackkenmare_