FIFA 19 discloses loot box odds in-game

The latest installment in the annual FIFA series gives its players a rough look at the odds powering its loot box-style card packs. 

As spotted by Eurogamer, FIFA 19 packs give players the option view the probability of different drops through an in-game menu. The disclosure itself makes FIFA 19 the latest entry on a growing list of games that are disclosing loot box odds while the monetization method continues to undergo scrutiny. 

For EA, the inclusion also comes after the company has reportedly run afoul of the Belgian Gaming Commission for not disclosing the odds of or outright removing loot boxes from FIFA 18 to comply with local laws. 

In a blog post detailing the feature, EA notes that the disclosure aims to help players make more informed decisions ahead of dropping either earned or purchased in-game currency on a random shot at adding new players to their rosters.

Every pack, for instance, guarantees that players will pull a card with a rank of at least Gold 75. Beyond that, there’s a 20 percent chance it’ll be a Gold 82 or higher card, and a 4.5 percent chance that it’ll be a Gold 84 or higher card. Meanwhile, cards for the current, limited-time “Ones to Watch” promotion featured in FIFA 19 only drop less than 1 percent of the time.

“Pack probabilities in FIFA 19 are calculated by simulating the opening of a very large number of packs, for each pack in the Store,” explains EA. “The number of packs opened in a simulation varies based on rarity, but it will always be enough to be statistically valid. We then re-run this process with every content update.”