From July 2025, South Korean players of EA Sports FC will no longer be able to purchase FC Points or open lootbox packs through microtransactions. This change was motivated by a change in South Korean legislation, which requires greater transparency in the probabilities associated with random items in games.
The new law, which has been in effect since March 2024, requires gaming companies to disclose detailed information about the probabilities of obtaining each item in lootbox systems, locally known as “gacha”. Instead of only providing general probabilities, such as “X% chance of getting a rare item”, companies must specify the probabilities of each individual item. This measure aims to increase transparency and protect consumers, especially younger ones, from practices that may be considered gambling.
As a result of this law, Electronic Arts decided to stop selling FC Points in South Korea. The game can still be purchased and played, but the functionality to open lootbox packs has been disabled.
EA chose to disable microtransactions in South Korea, but other companies may choose different ways to deal with the situation, such as displaying probabilities or removing lootbox systems from their games.
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