EA Sued Again, This Time Concerning Changes in FUT's Difficulty
There have been reports of another suit against Electronic Arts in connection with the Ultimate Team mode. This time the company has been accused of not informing players about the Dynamic Difficulty Level Adjustment system, which is supposed to encourage the use of microtransactions in FIFA, Madden NFL and NHL games.
If you ignore the constraints of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, players' attention is focused on the recent debut of ninth-generation consoles. However, celebrating the launch of the PS5 and XSX/S does not mean that there are no other reports, including, unfortunately, problems. Electronic Arts, for example, has been the target of another lawsuit, this time in connection with the use of a controversial patent in the EA Sports catalogue titles. The information was provided by GamesIndustry.biz, which also received a comment from the publisher.
The document presented by Jason Zajoniec, Danyael Williams and Prank Lozano refers to the use of the so-called Dynamic Difficulty Adjustment system (DDA). We have known about the existence of such a solution for years - the text of the related patent was found two years ago. It enables the game to adjust the game to how the player is doing in a given session, for example by speeding up the car in a race game, improving accuracy or changing the sensitivity of controls.
But does Electronic Arts really use or have used this solution in its games? As recently as last year, the publisher assured that DDA is not used in any mode in FIFA 19. However, this does not convince the authors of the suit. They claim that the company has not only implemented the system in all installments of FIFA, NHL and Madden NFL series from 2017 onwards, but is also using it to promote microtransactions in these games. It is supposed to make the team do worse than we would expect from the ratings of the players who form it. A player may therefore consider that he or she needs to get better players to be competitive. The claimant also accuses Electronic Arts of not informing buyers about the use of the DDA, probably referring to the publisher's statement last year. In doing so, the company is alleged to have violated California's consumer protection laws, and the business itself is can be considered unjustifiable profit at the expense of customers:
"EA's undisclosed use of Difficulty Adjusting Mechanisms deprives gamers who purchase Player Packs of the benefit of their bargains because EA's Difficulty Adjusting Mechanisms, rather than only the stated ranking of the gamers' Ultimate Team players and the gamers' relative skill, dictates, or at least highly influences the outcome of the match. 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."
A little later, Gamesindustry.biz received a statement from Electronic Arts. The company denied the accusations and informed of its intentio to defend its rights in court. This will not be the publisher's only visit to the courthouse in the near future. In previous months, the controversy surrounding the Ultimate Team mode has resulted in other lawsuits, the last one in August in connection with accusations of encouraging gambling. EA also got hit for a lootbox ad, among other things, and the Dutch government issued an ultimatum to the company demanding the removal of FUT player packs.
