EA releases FIFA 19 Ultimate Team pack odds – They are horrific

EA has disclosed their FIFA Ultimate Team (FUT) pack odds for the first time, revealing that the probability of accessing the games most desirable cards can be ‘less than 1%’, highlighting exactly why the system is so controversial. 

FIFA 19 launches this week, kicking off with a FUT promotion called “Ones to Watch” (OTW), which can add Special Edition cards to packs for a limited time.  These cards gain stat boosts if their attached player performs well in the upcoming season. 

In their Ultimate Team system, EA is not only giving players access to cards with a less than 1% drop rate, but they are making these cards limited edition variants, a trait that will make them more desirable. To get a “Ones to Watch” card, FUT players will need to purchase more a huge number of packs to access one of these sought-after cards. EA’s ‘less than 1%’ is also extremely vague, as this value could be anywhere from 0.99% to as low as 0.01% for all we know. There is only one reason to have odds so low, to stack the deck in EA’s favour and to force players to purchase more FUT packs. 

At the time of writing, EA is under a criminal investigation in Belgium over their inability to comply with the country’s gaming legislation (link), refusing to remove “loot boxes” from the game within the region. With odds that are so stacked against players, it is easy to see why FUT is considered as a form of gambling by a large proportion of today’s gamers.