See the CBC Article here: www.cbc.ca/news/gopublic/fifa21-loot-boxes-electronic-arts-1.5996912 See David Zendle's research findings here: peerj.com/articles/9466/

SidAlpha *in semi retirement* EA: lies about gacha mechanics SidAlpha: YOU'VE AWOKEN ME FROM MY SLUMBER

You can't spell steal without EA.

Us old farts; Remember when we paid 40-50 bucks for that atari or nintendo cartridge and thought jeesh these are kinda expensive! 30ish years later and people are happily forking over that much for skins and minor perks. I miss buying a complete game from day 1 for that resonable price... Those days are def gone.

I still hate the arguement :"This isn't gambling, you can't cash out." Isn't that worse? You literally can't recoup your loses by getting lucky. You just "lose" regardless and why it's so profitable to those who implement it. This just says to me that these companies want to keep this up for as long as possible, following the letter of the law and not it's spirit till they can't anymore (which I'm sure is coming soon as more people get on this). It's just disgusting. I feel for those with addictive personalities and those children that make a huge mistake by participating in this.

Ea sucks? Ea lying? Who could have guessed?

Welcome back Sid! Don't worry, we got you.

In the gaming sphere, conversion means "From non-paying to paying". Fwiw, I've worked for several game companies that have microtransactions.

Electronic "What The F Did They Do Now" Arts Considering the amount whales spend on crap cell phone games, I can't imagine how much whales spend on crap console games.

Ea and scummy behaviour go hand in hand.

Loot boxes are most definitely gambling! It's bordering on impossible not to fall into that trap! AC Origins was kinda cruel about in-game purchases, but at least you knew what you were getting!

EA lying? Why am I not surprised, they do this shit so often, you could do a drinking game out of this.

I'm actually glad that non gaming news places are covering this cause there is the tiny hope that things can change.

The algorithm can eat it. Still got the notification

A comment to feed the algorithm and to remind the Clanners in 5 Days ComStar reminds you, the bills are due.

I remember the argument of "Video game development is so expensive we should charge double for games!" I didn't know that second and third summer homes, yachts and private jets were considered part of 'video game development'.

Wow, EA lying about lootboxes? Oh say it aint so!

Welcome back homie

I wonder how blatant the algorithm is in their source code.

Ea and Lies & Deceit are like peanut butter and jelly

For me seeing that a game has been made by EA has become a reason not to buy that game.

We need you out here big homie, welcome back!

I stopped playing sports games after Outlaw Golf 2 on Ps2. Left on a high note.

Commenting because comments help; Your vid popped up in my list with no issue, so yay you still getting fed to me :D

I'm trying to remember the last time Sid asked us to like, share and subscribe... and that's precisely why he's earned a like

This is why the “service” business model for video games is intrinsically anti-consumer. Games are PRODUCTS. Games as a service creates a continual billing avenue that drastically lessens the number of games a player plays. Fewer games played means competition for game shelf space & sale viability increases. Fewer viable games & smaller shelf space means fewer and fewer games are purchased. This ultimately destroys the industry as the barrier to sales increases to absurd levels. Eventually, only a few games are viable and everything else becomes an insane business gamble that no publisher/VC is willing to take.

KZfaq is still KZfaq and I never gotten notified of this video. It finally showed up in my recommendations. One thing interesting to note about loot crates that genuinely bother me is the fact that a lot of them also target children. There really needs to be more regulation when it comes to in-game purchases. There is a lot of people in general not just gamers who know that this is a problem.

(reads title) Please tell me this didn't surprise anybody. SidAlpha: "EA surprises no one, yet again..." Okay good - I'm in the same timeline still...

what. oh no. what a surprise. who could have seen this coming. Anyway, I would like to take this opportunity to remind the audience that fire is hot, water is wet and the sun rises in the morning. 🎩 🐍 no step on snek! 🇺🇸🇭🇰

Creators shouldn't be penalized for IRL stuff. Happy to have you back, dude.

'No, we dont push players into 'buying Lootboxes', we just push players into the *MODE* that has lootboxes as the singular focus.....way different...' - EA, prob I feel like MLB The Show is prob the 'best' (relative term) example of a sports games monetization style...They DO use every mode to drive players into the 'DiamondDynasty' pack-driven mode, but while they do so, you can build a really competitive team just by completing the ingame challenges - of which there are many more than I'll ever complete - in exchange for either high rated players, or ingame currency to buy packs/players with. Further to that, The Show also seems to have the most robust user marketplace to sell your unwanted players/items, or to pick up a key player for 30k stubs, instead of rolling the dice on high-end packs. It can still EASILY be described as P2W bs, but on a scale of Warframe (ideal) to anything played on a mobile phone (worst), it's about a Fallout76 (could be ALOT better, but could also still be way worse)

i wonder how this revelation will be taken in certain countries in Europe

Sad part: this is so expected, I don't even have the energy to joke about the sky.

The last time I bought an EA game it was Burnout 3: Takedown. Fun game, in all honesty, but that was the last one and I don't have any plans to change that fact anytime soon. Especially with practices like this.

Huh, i remember playing a fifa game on my gameboy advance like 15 years ago or something ridicolous like that, and based on the footage in the background, the game has not progressed an inch in terms of gameplay since then.

Ladies and gentlemen, I like listening to SidAlpha videos. Also, was anybody honestly surprised that EA's been lying all along?

Wow! A Sid Alpha Surprise Mechanic!

Welcome back good sir

I just assumed KZfaq stopped recommending your channel to me and I would have a nice backlog to enjoy when I wanted some developer drama. Whatever happened, it’s good to have you back.

Good to hear from ya Sid.... On the topic, as BS as EAs behavior is with loot boxes, I can’t get a lot of anger going on this because it only works as long as people keep buying these games and the products in question. Caviat Emptor applies here.

The last fifa I played was 20; it was very hard to play this game without the temptation to buy packs. If I was playing FUT, it got to the point where within 3 weeks of the main campaign, you mind as well either go back to career mode or feel like you have to spend money to catch up.

Their "AAA" titles should be free to play.

A good start would be to take the PEGI 3 rating away from these games.

So EA lied... say it isn't so... who could have guessed.... except of course that they lie all the time, why anyone still buys EA's shovelware is beyond me, I stopped buying EA games 22 years ago.

I think "convert" means 'from player into payer.' I've seen it used in that way before.

lootbox or Mechanics similiar to lootboxes need to completely regulated out of gaming industry

Ive been boycotting ea for years. Glad I made that decision

I'm happy to see you uploading again and look forward to more stuff from you 😃

One word "Unacceptable"

How long I wonder until companies like EA, Activision, 2K, Bethesda, and more. Get destroyed by their own greed. The mobile gaming market and so many terrible AAA games will one day cause a crash so catastrophic we will see these companies crumble.

Welcome Back

Life expectancy would grow by leaps and bounds if green vegetables smelled as good as bacon. Welcome back Sid

Welcome back SidAlpha!

good to see you back sid

The other thing no one notices or thinks about is that it is RARE for a team to be able to consistently produce an above average final product, and often times the greatest projects are as much a product of chance in development as they are raw talent. By imposing intentional bad game design onto teams they're basically taking that 1/100 gem and making it one in 1/10000 because the teams just don't have the talent or drive to lift that deadweight high enough.

Lootboxes and microtransaction stuff is like having a football stadium where you sit 1 kilometer away from the field and have to pay to get a 15 minute binocular-use allowance. Sure you can watch the game without.... but it'd be a grind and announce to have to watch it like that - so why not pay 15 dollars to use those binoculars for 15 minutes!? or spend 50 bucks and you can use them for the whole match!

I agree that companies seeking to gain profit is all well and good. The problem is when these companies have little or no moral code of ethics and become the Weyland-Yutani of our own cinematic universe.

The bigger problem with Lootboxes is the lack of PHYSICAL payoff. And it's no more evident and egregious in FIFA. In a casino, if the House decides to let you win, you get actual currency which you can then take out of the casino and spend it elsewhere. In Loot Boxes, you have no such protections, and worse, in the case of an annual series like FIFA, you don't even keep your winnings beyond the lifespan of the game. Which in a way is WORSE than casinos, and casinos are RIGHTFULLY regulated.

Not surprised, not even slightly surprised. I've seen players handle menues and controls in a specific way to avoid bugs in the older FIFA versions and they still are there in the current version! Chunky algorithm bacon!

Welcome back. Let's raise awareness and force these horribly broken systems to change.

So glad I grew up in the SNES era when games came complete on a physical media with no need (or ability) for patching or additional spending.

Ah yes, plausible deniability, when almost everyone knows, but you can still pretend like it's not the case, one of the things that makes this planet insufferable and corrupt to the core, while we pretend everything is fine and how it should be.

Glad your back

Sid Alpha: Like and Subscribe Me, seeing a new Sid Alpha video, already subscribed and liking the video: Cool But seriously welcome back Sid, always enjoy seeing new stuff by you. You shine a light on things a lot of people miss, or even if it's not missed and obvious you just brighten the spotlight on it and show us new stuff. It's really awesome to hear your opinion on matters and I always look forward to the next video.

They know they don't have to lie anymore. They have already gotten away with it.

5:32 "He says he was shocked [...]" ... and this guy calls himself an "Insider"? This was clear as day *from the outside* ... how did he miss this all this time while having the view *behind the scene* ??

can't wait for that sweet, juicy, THROBBING lootbox regulation.

For some reason... I now feel like making bacon (at 9h40 PM) -_- As for E.A's dirty tactics of using LootBoxes... I am not surprised at this -_-.

just confirming what we already knew was absolute fact. any game with mtx is designed with mtx in mind and not game content. i still remember the days where mtx were all in game unlockables. i have no desire to play a game where all of the interesting things are locked behind paywalls. there is a reason i was able to play games like ff12 or re4 a few dozen times over. not just because they have good gameplay but because you can actually achieve something through your actions. i refuse to buy any game that has mtx. even games like the sims4 where they chop the game up from what it once was and sell you bits and pieces so that if you want to play the full game you have to spend hundreds of dollars.

For Assassin's Creed Odyssey and Valhalla I simply got an external program to edit the code that increased my XP gain back to what it would be with the XP Microtransaction. Without spending a dime.

Don't forget to add "please comment" even if it's a troll post it still counts as activity and boosts visibility

"Mainstream press learns what everyone involved in video games already knew."

Wow, I am completely shocked That anybody finds this to be actual news, it's something we've all known for years

Games with microtransactions are just feeding the greed machine. AAA titles for me just don't exist if they have any transactions that advance the stats. Mostly I stick with the smaller studio's games that cost less and don't look to drain your wallet for every little thing. I feel sad for those looking to play the sports titles and getting sucked into the greed machine that has locked up all the licensing for the sports.

"EA...it's in the shame !"

Sid you're absolutely wrong about lootboxes being like a slot machine in Vegas. slot machines have a chance for you to win and make more money than when you started while loot boxes and digital goods in the majority of cases don't (Valve games excluded)

Blood for the Blood God! Food for the algorithm!

Fuck man. I thought we were finally done with loot boxes.

02:39 means to convert a non-paying player into a paying one. Because 70 bucks aren't enough for them and they want to encourage players to buy Fifa card packs instead of grinding for them in-game without real money. It's just disgusting.

so about that art question at about 9:50 ... If a game like Journey / Braid had MTX injected into it, then I'd liken it to a banana duct-taped to a wall: the owner might claim it's art worth (earning them) millions, but it's still gonna rot and stink, and I ain't gonna pay to see it.

News type reporting on the industry is a valuable thing and should be shared to more people. Have you thought about doing a headlines type thing with the KZfaq Shorts where you have the headlines of these longer videos released as a short that point to these long form types?

6:24 First they sell you the problem and then they ask you to pay again for the solution.

I can guarentee EA will deny all of the documents and claim something stupid like "these are documents from a beta plan" or "they aren't from our *Current* games and was scrapped", etc... Anything to deny responsibility. EA is an interesting company, it's like a parasyte. Not a single game franchise did they make besides NBA and FIFA; not even The Sims is theirs, as they bought Maxis after working with them and then when the company started going bankrupt, EA bought them. This is the same for Bullfrog on the theme hospital series and a countless number of other games such as Zingya from those facebook games. EA is predictable because they repeat themselves. It's how they survive. So you can bet they will do the same tatics over and over to keep alive. So should this situation have already happened in the past, you can be sure they will react the same then as for this. Deny everything; sweep it under the rug and try another greedy lootbox method. To avoid this getting even longer, EA has killed many good developers who had potential, for quick money.

Great to have you back Sid, hope you and yours are doing well!

*Shocked Pikachu face* Noooo

"FUT is the stone and we are doing everything we can to drive players there." Or as I see it, "We will continue to make the game crap until everyone plays FUT mode over single player mode." I'll just stick to the Nintendo Switch and games that actually get improvements. Also unrelated to EA, I recommend having some alternative places to post videos, to combat KZfaq being KZfaq. Odysee and this new locals, seem like good places to try out. Let's just say I have to one LP on hold on youtube because of some bs that seems to have been going on for a while when I checked it out for my self. Good Luck getting your channel revived, KZfaq really doesn't want to be anyone's friend.

And this is why the future of videogames is indie, for one simple reason... "Why buy AAA, when it's too dangerously micro-transactions, to earnestly enjoy?"

In other news, the sky is blue, water is wet and Sid is god among journalists.

"You can totally trust us, we wouldn't do something shady and underhanded like shove loot boxes in your face, we promise!" - Company that originated macro-microtransactions, rebalanced their games to the point that they were incredibly grindy if you didn't buy them, and then went so far with their loot box policies that Congress got involved, definitely.

When triple-ayy say "it's optional, you don't have to" what they really mean is "it's optional but we will force you into it"

This is a comment. Video algorithm increased by 1.

Haven't seen you in my feed for a while. Great to see you back. For the Algo!

it makes me sad knowing that even if those documents literally flat out said "yes we are manipulating players into making them waste all of their money on some pixels on a screen" people would still be more than happy to throw money at the game and defend it. never going to change without some higher level of intervention.

EA lied, who knew?

What possible "context" could one read this document in, in order for it to not be seen as the pursuit of limitless greed and a disturbing compromise of whatever integrity EA had left? "EA Sports, it's not a game. (it's a casino.)"

Oh look EA lying in adverts who would of thunk

Its like stepping into a river to find out water is wet. Any consumer playing games from EA, Ubisoft, Bethesda and the likes has lost all rights to be outraged. With so many warning voices out there you had been warned! These companies owe you nothing, they want your money, BADLY! Don't like it? STOP BUYING THEIR SHIT! Gamblers love to gamble? Shocking! Shut down Casinos right now!

Welcome back! Thanks for covering this 🙏

Your family comes first.

Glad to see your back I was starting to worry that you had given up on KZfaq.