7-year-old spends €1,000 in 3 days on a mobile game for ages 4 and up, EA wants to keep the money – parents are horrified

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A family in Norway is horrified: In order to keep their 7-year-old son quiet during a boring trip, the parents gave the boy his mother’s cell phone to play the game “FIFA Mobile”. But the kid sunk €1,000 in 3 days and used it to buy strong players. When the parents asked for the money back, they were met with understanding from EA, but the money was gone.

How did the situation come about??

  • In mid-August, a Norwegian couple drove to a zoo near Kristiansand with their 7-year-old son, TV2 reported.
  • To keep their son busy during the boring trip, they gave him his mom’s cell phone with the soccer game FIFA Mobile: According to the Apple Store, the game has an age recommendation of “4 years and up,” and on Google Play it has an “Everyone” rating on.
  • The boy was happy, busy himself with his smartphone in the back seat and said: “I now have a better team than dad” – the parents had no idea what was happening.

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    Boy sinks €1,000 into loot boxes for Dreamteam

    What did the boy do? Within 3 days, the boy had bought loot boxes in FIA Mobile for the equivalent of €1,006 and thus put together a “dream team” of virtual players.

    As you can see from a screenshot, the boy treated himself to special cards from top players like Casillas, Lahm and C. Ronaldo.

    Image source. Tv2.no

    What are booster packs in FIFA?
    – In one mode in FIFA you can put together a team with virtual players.
    – These players are represented by cards depicting real soccer players.
    – Good players in real life are also strong in the game.
    – The card can be acquired randomly via “booster packs”. These are loot boxes that contain randomly selected cards.

    Mother wants to get the money back, bites on granite

    How did the parents react? The mother in particular was stunned. She is quoted as saying, “I have never been so angry,” because the money was originally intended to be used to pave a path.

    Attempts to get the money back via Google Play or EA failed. EA was cooperative and said: Everything would work out, but nothing had happened in the matter.

    Image source. Tv2.no

    When the angry mother asked further, she received the answer: EA was sorry, but a refund of the money was impossible.

    How did that turn out?? It was only when the TV2 site, which had heard about the story, got involved and asked EA specifically that the problem was solved within days: suddenly a refund was possible.

    TV 2 is Norway’s largest commercial television channel. The TV2.no site is the website of the television station.

    The mother said they checked their account every 15 minutes to see if the money was back, but it just wasn’t coming. She woke up sometime around 5 a.m. and the money was in the account.

    It feels like she has won €1,000, she says. Now they want to pave the path and buy a soccer ball and soccer shoes for their son.

    Then he can be outside and play football instead of sitting inside and gaming.

    Statement from EA sees responsibility with parents

    This is what EA says: In a statement to TV2 a few days after the incident, EA strongly recommended that parents introduce robust access controls that must apply to all games and devices that children have access to, including mobile platforms.

    If there are options in games to make in-game purchases, this would be clearly marked. Parents could get information.

    EA says it understands that children can make an unauthorized purchase, and if this is the first time it happens, EA teams will work to resolve the issue, refund money and help parents set up controls.

    EA left unanswered why this didn’t happen immediately in the case of the Norwegian family.

    EA has long been criticized for its loot boxes:

    EA calls loot boxes a fairly ethical surprise mechanic

    The cover image is a symbolic image: Photo by Trenton Stevens on Unsplash

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