FIFA 23 Called Out For Selling Loot Boxes While Removing Ivan Toney Over Gambling
FIFA 23's latest squad update has removed Brentford striker Ivan Toney from the game after he was hit with an eight month ban by England's Football Association for betting against his own team. According to Sky News, Toney bet against his own team 13 times between August 2017 and March 2018 – 11 times against former team, Newcastle United, and twice against the team he was loaned to, Wigan.
These bets go directly against the FA's betting policy for professional club players. As a result, EA has decided to remove Toney from FIFA 23 as well. While the eight-month ban by the FA is understandable, some players thought it was pretty rich of EA to remove a player for betting, while the company continues to sell loot boxes to children. EA has long been criticized for its use of its FIFA Ultimate Team loot boxes, which have continued in FIFA 23.
RELATED: EA Sports FC's Dynamic Packs Are A Depressing Evolution Of Loot Boxes
As pointed out by Dexerto, a number of people have come out saying it's hypocritical of EA to remove a player for betting while selling loot boxes to children. In fact many European countries have declared that the game's loot box system is akin to gambling. In fact, EA has even stopped declaring the revenue it makes via FUT after the allegations were made.
FIFA content creator Lukedutchh did not hold back in his criticism of EA and FIFA after the news about Toney's removal from the game broke. "Fifa literally promote gambling to children. This whole thing is so fucking pathetic," he Tweeted. "Not to mention that they still, to this day, hold the belief that loot boxes aren’t gambling. Biggest hypocrites of all time."
FIFA's squad updates are primarily targeted towards real life updates in a team's squad,
Read more on thegamer.com
