According to The Sun of the United Kingdom, four children emptied their parents' bank account to buy Lionel Messi on FIFA 19, but still didn't get him.

The youngsters have now had their Nintendo Switch console confiscated "indefinitely" after £550 was spent on player packs in just three weeks.

After their father bought the first pack for the children, the children tasted the sweetness and did not endure the temptation. They decided to continue to use their father's bank card to spend money without asking. The father and his wife didn't realize what happened until the card was rejected. Because of his email address that used to bind his bank card is too old and he didn't pay attention to the notice. In an interview with the BBC, my father said: "I never thought that my children would do this."

However, he also said he felt that the in-game concept of buying player packs without knowing what was inside them was unethical. "You pay £40 for the game, which is a lot of money in itself, but then the only way to get a great team is essentially by gambling," he said, referring to online play. "They spent £550 and they still never got their favorite player, Lionel Messi."

There has been a lot of controversy surrounding the system of loot boxes in gaming in recent years. Essentially, loot boxes are a form of in-game transaction that does not have their contents revealed before purchase. As such, getting an item of choice is left up to chance, leading to some people spending quite a lot of money before they finally attain what they are after.

Since FIFA 19 is rated 3+ years many kids can fall prey to a similar thing. The Loot-box mechanic is predatory and believe it or not is a form of gambling and have implications on the mind of young children. EA had been called out numerous time for this predatory in-game transaction mechanic, but they still don’t do anything about it and just brush reports like this aside.

What do you think about this system of loot boxes in FIFA 19? As a fan of FIFA series, I hope EA can make a solution that no loot boxes will be present in their games. Or they can increase the rate of obtaining players' favorite loot boxes.

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