EA Sports have responded to a lawsuit brought against the company by three American gamers, calling their accusations “baseless” and a misrepresentation of the company’s games.
A class action lawsuit was last month filed against EA Sports in the US District Court of Northern California by Jason Zajonc, Danyael Williams, and Pranko Lozano.
The trio claim that EA uses the company’s patented Dynamic Difficulty Adjustment technology to keep players buying loot boxes in the FIFA Ultimate Team game mode.
According to the plaintiffs, EA are using Dynamic Difficulty Adjustment to alter the level of difficulty that gamers experience mid-game, leading to weakened statistics and attributes and, say the plaintiffs, an urge on behalf of the player to eventually buy player packs to improve their experience.
“This is a self-perpetuating cycle that benefits EA to the detriment of EA Sports gamers, since Difficulty Adjusting Mechanisms make gamers believe their teams are less skilled than they actually are, leading them to purchase additional Player Packs in hopes of receiving better players and being more competitive,” the lawsuit reads.
In a statement responding to the lawsuit, EA said: “We believe the claims are baseless and misrepresent our games, and we will defend.”
The lawsuit is just the latest controversy that EA have become embroiled in regarding their controversial loot boxes in FUT, which critics have described as being akin to a slot machine, and at times addictive for gamers.
Earlier this year, a Dutch district court gave the go-ahead for the company to be handed a €10 million fine.
The Dutch court acknowledged EA’s claim that FUT packs could not be converted for money, but highlighted the fact that people could profit from them, particularly in private deals between players.
