‘It’s in the game’: FIFA videogames and the misuse of history

ABSTRACT

Videogames are a still understudied component of sports history despite their growing importance in sporting and leisure fields. Videogames help engage and include sporting fans, are more interactive than spectating and, in some ways, help solidify sporting narratives. As videogames grew in popularity and marketability in the 2000s, developers sought ways to connect their games with their respective sports’ histories. This is most notably seen in the inclusion of ‘classic’ or ‘legends’ teams within videogames. Since the early 2000s, football, rugby, cricket, and wrestling, among others, have begun to include legendary athletes and teams within their games. Studying the popular FIFA videogame franchise produced by Electronic Arts (EA), this article brings together several strands of research to examine the use, and abuse, of history within the franchise. In doing so, it argues that EA has largely used history problematically for profit motives. While superficially, history is used in an anodyne manner in these games, the kinds of history told, and the linking of historical athletes to in-play purchases, create various problems for how history is told among popular sporting audiences.

KEYWORDS:

• FIFA
• video game
• public history
• historiography
• football

In 1993 Electronic Arts released its first FIFA videogame (henceforth FIFA) in conjunction with football governing body FIFA.¹ Largely a roll of the dice, the game received positive enough reviews to garner a re-edition, and another, and another.² For those unaware, FIFA is a single, or multi, person videogame which allows users to play with football teams (men’s and women’s), from a range of different leagues and continents. It is available on all major gaming consoles and counts hundreds of millions of fans.³ One recent estimate was that FIFA is played in over 200 nations across the world, with the majority of users now believed to be in the United States.⁴ EA’s FIFA franchise was estimated to be worth several billion dollars to the manufacturer, with over one billion dollars coming from its ‘FIFA Ultimate Team’, an online game mode which allowed players to build teams and compete against other users.⁵ For fans of football, the influence of the FIFA franchise is clear. EA Sports acts as a sponsor in domestic leagues, elite clubs now have online Esports teams, and individual players often cite FIFA as a favoured pastime.⁶ Previous work has highlighted the importance of FIFA in deepening players’ knowledge of the game, transforming business practices, and changing emotional states.⁷ While EA’s relationship with FIFA ended in the summer of 2023, EA has rebranded its football franchise as FC24, with little indication that it will cease producing it.⁸

Why does FIFA, or more accurately, why do football videogames, warrant historians’ attention? Markovits and Green’s work cited FIFA’s influence in helping to popularise football within the United States after a decade’s long struggle to establish the sport.⁹ A substantial number of American football fans came to the sport first through the FIFA videogame and then through live sport. Likewise, Andrew Baerg’s use of banal cosmopolitanism explored the manner in which FIFA’s database of international teams, flags, and players allowed individuals to ingratiate themselves within a global culture.¹⁰ More recent work, by Garry Crawford and others, cited FIFA as a vital means through which people satisfied their football fandom during the Covid-19 pandemic.¹¹ This was made possible by FIFA’s prominence in supporters’ lives. FIFA should not, however, be viewed unproblematically. Paul Campbell and Marcus Maloney’s in-depth study on race in FIFA 20 critiqued it for embedding racial stereotypes into gameplay through the game’s attribute skill system.¹² Repeating harmful tropes from previous centuries about the presumed ‘innate physicality’ of black athletes over white counterparts, FIFA disproportionately cited black athletes as quicker and more physical whereas white players scored higher on mental or technical skills. Likewise, Baerg’s work on cosmopolitanism made clear that despite the potential benefits offered to FIFA’s players in informing their sense of the world, its flattening out of international teams and cultures did a disservice to cultural differences.¹³

A different vein of research has stressed FIFA’s transformative power over football’s business practices. Beginning with the first FIFA game, released in 1993, Guins, Lowood and Wing cited EA as a pivotal figure in opening the eyes of football clubs, and governing bodies, to the potential of image rights and media opportunities.¹⁴ In this regard, their assertion has been supported by a litany of similar works focusing on FIFA’s various marketing campaigns, media rights, and entrepreneurial success.¹⁵ While sport historians have done an excellent job thus far examining the entrepreneurial and business practices of trading cards and retro jerseys, FIFA’s history marks it as unique given both its reach and its scope.¹⁶ FIFA exists as part of a new digital turn in fandom and sporting consumption. As Garry Crawford cited in an interview with The Athletic in 2021, FIFA is something consumed before, during, and after football matches.¹⁷

Videogames matter when it comes to the general public’s historical knowledge and appetite for historical content.¹⁸ This article brings together several strands of research to study the use, and abuse, of history within the FIFA videogame franchise and, in doing so, argues that EA, as producer of the franchise, has problematically used history for profit motives. The inclusion and exclusion of athletes, the white-washing of histories and struggles, and the use of in-play purchases create cause for concern. Previous research on sporting film and iconography has stressed the importance of popular culture in framing sports history.¹⁹ Videogames are a similar case and, with this in mind, this article begins by examining some of the historiography surrounding videogames more generally before discussing the different ways in which history is used with reference to Metzger and Paxton’s framework on videogame histories.²⁰ Following this the article examines two distinct ways in which FIFA utilises history: in-play features and the Ultimate Team.

Use of history in videogames

Writing in the inaugural edition of Game Studies Espen Aarseth celebrated a new medium which was, to some, ‘of greater cultural importance than, say movies, or perhaps even sports’.²¹ In 2023 journalist Akshita Toshniwal estimated the videogame industry to be worth over $180 billion globally.²² Turning to academia, scholars have pinpointed the influence of videogames in popular culture. Videogames intersect now with traditional television, films, music, pop culture references, military games and, critically for this paper, sport.²³ As Johnathan Anderson noted, sports videogames are among the most popular genres of games globally.²⁴ They are also, as Lu Zhouxiang detailed, an old medium, dating to the 1950s.²⁵

Unfortunately, studies of sports videogames have been relatively limited except for Esports.²⁶ Certainly, the past decade has witnessed the rise of electronic sports (Esports) and Esports tournaments, celebrities and prizes.²⁷ Highlighting Esports inability to exist within a vacuum, professional teams have welcomed Esports with open arms through the use of sponsored athletes, advertisement campaigns, and promotional tie-ins. Esports, as an industry and as a practice, has tended to dominate discussions surrounding sports and videogames. Far less attention has been drawn to the content of sporting videogames. One of the few individuals to study this phenomenon, Andrew Baerg, lamented in 2013 that academics have been slow to study the use of history in sports games.²⁸ A decade later and little has changed.

This is not the case for other areas. A rich body of scholarship exists concerning the use of historical videogames. While some videogame developers, as Copplestone found, seek to provide some form of ‘objective history’, a far more common approach has been to blend history and fiction for entertainment.²⁹ Regarding the former, Elliot and others have likened the videogame developer’s process to that of the historian’s.³⁰ Drawing from film and television studies, which have long critiqued the use of history as entertainment, such works depict some videogame developers as developer-historians, who seek to build game narratives through historical touchstones and sequences.³¹ This line of thought is underpinned by a post-structuralist vein which demands rigorous scrutiny over what is, and is not, deemed historical processes. It is for this reason that Adam Chapman has encouraged historians to think about the videogame form as opposed to its content.³² Chapman’s warning is that a focus on the content of videogames alone breeds stale conversations about what is, and is not, ‘proper’ history. A far richer discussion lies in how videogames construct their history and for what purpose.

What differentiates history in videogames from more ‘traditional’ histories is its reciprocal relationship with users. Put simply, users have more agency when it comes to historical videogames than they do with television, film, or books.³³ As is the case with all mediums, there is a sense of co-creation between users and content, but videogames offer a more embodied sense of engagement. Chapman coined the term ‘historical resonance’ to describe how videogames both play on a user’s existing knowledge of history while simultaneously adding new discourses.³⁴ As videogames rely on playing as opposed to viewing, they also offer the opportunity for deeper engagement with historical narratives, a point bulwarked by those studying the use of videogames as historical teaching tools.³⁵ An important observation to make is that while many in academia lament the decline of history, videogames have proven the public’s demand for historical content and knowledge.³⁶

Critically videogames allow the user agency when it comes to historical engagement. Most videogames centre on narrative-based tasks, i.e. to defeat the enemy we must first capture this base or, as happens in sports videogames that use history, to ‘unlock’ this classical team you must first win this game. It is disingenuous, however, to not recognise the additional agency that users have. As has been argued elsewhere, videogame users are conscious creators of histories.³⁷ They can choose to ignore game-based tasks in favour of roaming or exploring the game landscape. They can mix and match historical iconography (attire, weaponry, tactical movements, etc.) or can choose to simply skip through historical narratives. They can also consciously edit game histories through additional modifications.³⁸ Likewise, they can actively contribute to a game’s historical context, a point Chapman highlighted when discussing the racing game Grand Prix Legends which is continually updated with new cars and tracks by its dedicated fanbase.³⁹

But what about sport videogames? They do not employ the same use of history as those most often studied. There are not, to my knowledge, football, baseball or hockey games that employ World War II backdrops or campaigns during the Roman Empire. They rely, as the scant literature on this area makes clear, more so on ‘classical’ players, teams, or matches. At present three studies exist on the use of history in videogames. Baerg penned two works on the basketball game NBA2k12 and WWE’13 while Abe Stein focused on All-Star Baseball 2004. Stein’s overview of All-Star Baseball proved largely positive, praising the developers for creating a game that shed light on baseball’s history of race-based segregation while simultaneously offering users the opportunity to learn and explore the sport’s history.⁴⁰ Baerg, on the other hand, offered interesting philosophical discussions about the stability of history within sport videogames and the meanings of history within these spaces.⁴¹ Tangential, but still important work, has shown the emotive ties the FIFA videogame franchise has among fans. This was especially the case during the Covid-19 pandemic when FIFA effectively replaced live sport during lockdowns for a significant base of fans.⁴² Equally important has been a series of critiques and studies of racial biases and stereotypes embedded in the FIFA franchise. Such work, although not concerned with history, nevertheless stresses the need to study representation in games and, just as critically, to consider its impact on fans.

One of the clearest articulations of how videogames use history is found in Scott Alan Metzger and Richard Paxton’s eight-part dissection of history in mainstream videogames.⁴³ As Metzger and Paxton stress, videogames differ from television and film in that they allow users a much more immersive experience by dint of the fact that users actively participate in, rather than simply view, the historical landscapes.⁴⁴ Three of Metzger and Paxton’s descriptors will be used: monumental deployment, composite imagination and wishstory.⁴⁵ Monumental deployments depict the past as an object of ‘veneration … or glorification’. These are ‘standard textbook’ histories which, in the case of FIFA, can be viewed as those challenges which task users with recreating a ‘historic’ victory. Far more interesting is composite imagination and wishstory. Composite imagination positions history not as a static thing, but rather an amalgamation of various historical periods. Wantonly mixed, time periods and individuals are blended to form a historical narrative. This deployment prioritises ‘immediate recognisability’ rather than historical accuracy. The most obvious case of this in FIFA comes in the Classic XI wherein players from the 2000s play within the same team as players from the 1950s or 1960s. Finally, wishstory allows players to reject or challenge historical events. It allows users to produce ‘unhistorical outcomes desirable to mass opinion’, the obvious case being the Ireland-France game from 2009. FIFA is not unique in deploying history in these ways, but it has often been neglected in videogame studies on history due to the prevailing popularity of explicit historical videogames like Civilization, Assassin’s Creed, or Age of Empires.

History of FIFA videogames

The first licenced FIFA branded game was released in 1986 prior to the 1986 World Cup.⁴⁶ FIFA licenced games thus existed for 1986, 1990, and 1994 World Cups. The games received mixed reviews but were nevertheless a clear sign that the football world governing body FIFA was open to licencing its name for videogames.⁴⁷ Electronic Arts/EA took over FIFA’s licencing rights for World Cups from US Gold in 1997, although they had established a relationship prior to this.⁴⁸ The first non-World Cup FIFA game was released in 1993 as FIFA International Soccer. Done in anticipation of the 1994 FIFA World Cup, the game featured domestic and international teams with one important caveat; it did not feature actual player names. Despite signing a five-year contract with FIFA, Electronic Arts could not feature accurate player names due to the pre-existing licence between FIFA and US Gold for World Cup games.⁴⁹ It took until 1995 for games to include authentic player names and likenesses, although teams and leagues had been added earlier. As Garry Crawford later asserted EA ‘stole a victory’ in establishing this licencing deal with FIFA.⁵⁰ The company had previous successes in the United States, producing several highly popular games on American football from the late 1980s, and was thus aware of how important, and lucrative, licencing rights were.

When EA turned up and started asking for the rights to stadiums, kits, and players, football had no idea what they had or how much to charge. EA already had experience of that from its NFL (American football), NHL (ice hockey), and NBA (basketball) games.⁵¹

FIFA’s relationship with EA officially ended in July 2023, and EA has rebranded their football game this year as FC24 with the presumption that the new FC series will continue in future years. EA continued their licencing agreement with FIFPRO, the player’s union, which means that official names can still be used.⁵² EA’s relationship with FIFA, and FIFPRO, prior to this point meant that EA had access to both contemporary and, at times, historical licencing rights for players. While this will be expanded on in later sections, it is worth detailing some of the ways in which the FIFA game franchise has utilised historical players and teams. From 1998, with the inclusion of classic teams in World Cup 98, FIFA and its offshoots (like special World Cup editions) have included historical teams, players, and matches.⁵³ In the case of individual athletes, they were typically included in Classic XI teams which could be used in friendly matches but, with the introduction of the FIFA Ultimate Team – whose features are explored in the final section – historically significant players came to be monetised through in-game purchases.

History has also featured within both real and fictitious historical recreations. FIFA 2017 introduced a single-player storyline mode entitled ‘The Journey’. Progressed across FIFA 17, FIFA 18, and FIFA 19, ‘The Journey’ focused on the career of fictitious footballers, Alex Hunter, Kim Hunter, and Danny Williams. Users were tasked with helping said players progress through the professional ranks. While the game was set in contemporary times, FIFA 19 gave users the opportunity to play as Alex’s fictitious grandfather Jim Hunter during the 1960s for a single game.⁵⁴ While this was a small feature it used an anodyne depiction of English football during the 1960s. More popular, and regular, inclusions in FIFA tasked users with either recreating a historic victory or helping to overcome a defeat that occurred in real life. Regarding the former, FIFA World Cup 2014 gave players the opportunity to re-create the Northern Ireland – Portugal match from 2013 wherein Portugal came from behind to win the match 4-2. Beginning the challenge in the 68th minute, with Portugal trailing 2-1, the task was to score two goals with Cristiano Ronaldo, hence winning the game and helping Ronaldo to become Portugal’s record goal scorer.⁵⁵ FIFA World Cup 2010, on the other hand, included the infamous Ireland – France game from 2009 during which an undetected handball by French striker Thierry Henry helped France secure victory.⁵⁶ In this instance players were given the opportunity to ‘right’ this perceived historical injustice.

History, even controversial instances, is treated relatively unproblematically by the game and its developers. It is a game function. As scholars of film, television, and videogames have reiterated again and again, the past is not a neutral set piece or function within media.⁵⁷ Viewed positively, the FIFA franchise, and now FC24 (which includes legendary players) allowed users to interact with the sport’s history. By allowing the use of legendary players and teams, users could scrutinise this history and create new timelines through the mixing and matching of different players. FIFA is not a historical game, but its use of history is both significant and problematic.

In-play features and eurocentrism

Campbell and Maloney’s article on race in FIFA makes clear that videogames are not neutral objects.⁵⁸ Game developers often implicitly, or explicitly, code their prejudices into games and, when sold widely among the mainstream, games are often shaped by their societal contours.⁵⁹ FIFA’s use of history as an in-game feature reiterates this point in two ways: it is Eurocentric and is often neglectful of historical prejudices. Concerning the first point, FIFA has, since FIFA World Cup 98, included ‘classical teams’ and ‘classical players’. This can take the form of monumental deployment as per Metzger and Paxton whereby the classic team is held up as one of the greatest in the sport. Or, more commonly, it is used as a form of composite imagination in which players from the 1960s are matched alongside those from the 1980s. This blurring of timelines and geographical boundaries proved to be a popular feature and has been kept for the relatively more recent Ultimate Team function.⁶⁰ Whereas FIFA World Cup ‘98 and FIFA 2000 featured classical teams, later iterations focused on a Classic XI.⁶¹ The distinction here is that while FIFA 2000 included the Ajax 1970–1973 side (i.e. monumental deployment), FIFA 2006 featured a Classic XI which included players from a variety of time periods (i.e. composite imagination). Classic XIs were removed from FIFA 2018 and FIFA 2019 but returned, in FIFA 2020 under the label Soccer Aid.⁶² As it would be impractical to scrutinise every iteration of the Classic XI/Soccer Aid, this article focuses on the FIFA 2023 with some additional comments about previous versions.

FIFA 2023 contained 39 legendary footballers in its Soccer Aid team. Thirty-three of these footballers were European and, of the remaining six, two played in Europe. A handful of Brazilian and Argentinian players were included as was one African footballer. No Asian or North American players were included.⁶³ This pattern was repeated in FC24, EA’s latest football game wherein 36 players were selected for the Soccer Aid Team, with only one African footballer included and no Asian or North American athletes. All players chosen were those who had played within Europe. While more ‘classical’ players were included in the FIFA Ultimate Team (FUT) discussed in the next section, it is notable how Eurocentric the inclusion was. While the exclusion of footballers who did not play in Europe is not as damaging as the embedding of racial stereotypes into the game, it nevertheless highlights the need to scrutinise the banality of these kinds of composite imagination. A kind explanation may be that this is simply wish fulfilment on the part of developers. A more serious observation is that this is a global game that perpetuates tropes about the superiority and relevancy of European leagues above all else.

Given that the Ultimate Team is the main vehicle through which EA earns their profits from the game, a pertinent comparison may be the Classic XI from FIFA 2008, the last game to not include the FUT. In FIFA 2008, most players were once again European (15 in total from a panel of 22). One African footballer was included in Abedi Pele and one North American athlete in Hugo Sanchez.⁶⁴ Where Campbell and Maloney highlighted FIFA’s ability to echo antiquated and racialised discourses around black bodies, the same is true about black, Asian, and Latin histories.⁶⁵ The majority of players included as legendary players or icons are white. Black, Asian, and Latin athletes are also disproportionately underrepresented.

A logical, and even reasonable, argument is that FIFA can be miserly on additional features like Classic XIs or Soccer Aid teams as these functions are not the primary focus of the game. While initially, it is clear that the early EA FIFA games were published for largely European audiences; its popularity is now global. The game is played in over 200 nations, and its popularity is spread across the globe, moving easily through boundaries in the northern and southern hemispheres.⁶⁶ If EA’s selection of legendary players was dictated by market demographics, one would expect a horde of North American inclusions given that over 20% of the game’s userbase come from the United States.⁶⁷ Instead, a clear preference is given towards the European game. Likewise in FIFA 2000 when Classic Teams were included, four of forty teams came from outside of Europe. Of these four, three were South American and one was North American (the New York Cosmos team of 1977-1982).⁶⁸ Football media still privileges European leagues, oftentimes with self-aggrandizing statements about the quality and popularity of European football.⁶⁹ EA games serve to re-iterate these discourses. This, interestingly, has placed the franchise at odds with its former namesake, world governing body FIFA, which has made clear efforts to increase the game’s popularity away from traditional hubs.⁷⁰

A related observation relates to women’s football and the kinds of history sports games choose to tell. Videogames have, historically, been focused on male pursuits despite their popularity among male and female populations.⁷¹ While the explicit misogyny of the videogame industry has been documented, many games implicitly reinforce tropes about female players and avatars through problematic inclusions of caricatured female characters or, more commonly, by ignoring women altogether.⁷² This was the case for FIFA which did not include women’s football until FIFA 2016.⁷³ FIFA 2016 was not the first game to include women’s football, but it was the first to do so in a meaningful way.⁷⁴ Coming during a wave of renewed interest in women’s football, which critically found institutional support among both governing bodies and the media, FIFA’s inclusion was significant but it did not come with parity with men’s football. No Classic XI for women’s football was created, and no ‘icons’ found in the original FIFA franchise. Icons in the Ultimate Team were included in FC24, and this drew the ire of some fans as a decision was made to allow teams comprised of men and women footballers on the Ultimate Team.⁷⁵ While some have credited this as a progressive step, it is worth stressing that this function is only possible on a game feature which, as the final section makes clear, is often criticised for predatory practices. The ways in which women’s history was deployed in these games is worth examining. FC24 included legendary players but not teams. The oldest players played during the 1990s and early 2000s and were used along the lines of monumental deployment. They were the ‘pioneers’ and their inclusion was to be celebrated. There was also the brave decision to create a form of composite imagination by allowing both men and women to be used together in the Ultimate Team. Women’s football undoubtedly went through a boom period during the 1990s and 2000s but the much longer lineage was completely disregarded by the developers. If the undertone of this article is that history in videogames matters, and whose history is told matters even more, the silence around the early history of women’s football, and the missed opportunity to tell it, is critically important. This is especially so given that EA has previously used historical storylines.

‘The Journey’ storyline included in FIFA 17, FIFA 18 and FIFA 19 used a form of composite imagination to re-create scenes from the mid-twentieth century. In FIFA 19 the opening of ‘The Journey’ centers on Jim Hunter, the grandfather of Alex Hunter (one of the storyline’s protagonists). The story begins with Alex, his half-sister Kim and friend Danny Williams, watching a video of Jim Hunter scoring his 100th career goal in a First Division match at Coventry City during the 1960s.⁷⁶ Some prepared scenes are shown before users are tasked with helping Jim to score his goal. This inclusion simultaneously serves as history as monumental deployment through the celebration of ‘historical’ English football as well as a clumsy means of composite imagination. Real and fictitious are combined to underpin the story’s plot. Showing a generic football stadium with full participation and using a slightly greyer tone than found elsewhere in the game, the prepared scenes serve to valorise football from this era. The pitches are shown to be excessively mucky, and an added emphasis is given in tough tackles. Commentator, John Motson, provides historical anecdotes to further situate the time as happens when Motson mentions the ‘breaking news’ that the 1970 FIFA World Cup would feature red and yellow cards – which again serves as a means of reminding gamers of the historical world being created before them. The function was praised upon released but, as a historical recreation, and as an attempt to play with some form of post-racialised footballing world, it is problematic.⁷⁷

In fact, on further scrutiny, the plot is less about using composite imagination to create a blending of historical worlds and more a case of failing to provide meaningful historical realism. In the first instance, the rules of this ‘retro’ game were those of the modern age. Dangerous slide tackles – as understood by modern rules and not those from the 1960s – are penalised, goalkeepers are not allowed to pick up the ball from a back pass, and offside rules mimic the modern ones. There is also the fact that while Alex Hunter is a black footballer, his grandfather Jim is white.⁷⁸ Playing as a white footballer in the 1960s in England, in a highly stylised and romantic depiction, thus allows the game to avoid uncomfortable conversations about race and racism in English football during this era. As Vice News noted in 2016, on the back of complaints from some FIFA users that they did not want to play with a black avatar in Alex Hunter, race and racism were completely absent within the storyline.⁷⁹ David Leonard’s critique of The Journey is particularly important. Noting that Hunter’s storyline was an attempt by EA developers to create a ‘realistic’, almost cinematic story, Leonard criticised the game mode for a reluctance to touch on any aspect of racism within football. The storyline, in essence, presented a ‘post-racialised’ fantasy and accordingly

the game imagines a world where Hunter’s blackness is inconsequential, where not only is he able to live out his dreams, where his talents transcend the persistent color lines resulting from antiblackness. Yet, it also relies on his blackness for the story about perseverance and grit in a world defined by whiteness.⁸⁰

This sense of meritocracy – that one’s grit and determination can overcome implicit racial barriers – has long been a harmful representation of racism in sport.⁸¹ While it is incorrect to say this message was received uncritically by players, whose agency must not be overlooked, research has consistently shown how the media frames racial biases.⁸² There is, finally, a broader question to ask of why English football was chosen as the site of the game. Alex Hunter’s own trajectory within ‘The Journey’ saw him play in England, mainland Europe, and the United States. One could easily question why – given the fictitious nature of ‘The Journey’ – Jim Hunter did not play in mainland Europe or the United States. Users were not given an option. While one could cite the above as historical nitpicking, it is significant. It celebrated English and European football over all else.

EA sports: it’s in the gambling

FIFA Ultimate Team is a mode in EA SPORTS FIFA that lets you build your dream squad and take your team into matches against other members of the community or in solo single player.

In FIFA Ultimate Team (FUT), you acquire Items in multiple ways. One of these ways is by opening FUT Packs. All Items can be obtained, and every part of the mode can be played without ever spending, and purchases are entirely optional.⁸³

The final point to consider concerning EA’s use of history relates to the Ultimate Team (formerly FIFA Ultimate Team). This is a fantasy football enterprise that allows players to build teams by mixing athletes from various leagues and, critically, eras. Here it is argued that EA is using composite imagination as an in-game function that seeks to entice players to spend additional money on the game. Put somewhat stronger, it uses composite imagination as an exclusive feature for a game mode that is often criticised for mimicking the same predatory behaviours as the gambling industry. From its introduction, the Ultimate Team has used ‘legendary’ players, unavailable within other parts of the game, to attract users. This section explores the function of these players and, importantly, their demographic make-up.

In 2007 the EA game UEFA Champions League 2006–2007 introduced the concept of the Ultimate Team. Used by EA in other sporting game franchises, the Ultimate Team combines online gaming with the ability to manage teams and compete for rare players.⁸⁴ While UEFA Champions League 2006–2007 used it only in an off-line setting, FIFA 2009 introduced it as an online function.⁸⁵ On starting an ultimate team, players were given a ‘starter pack’ – akin to football collectible stickers – of players from various parts of the world. Players could upgrade their teams by earning points and purchasing new player packs with FUT. In recent years player packs have been divided between bronze, silver, and gold levels, with bronze being the cheapest and gold the most expensive. EA has always stressed that packs can be purchased by using points earned within the game and, hence, no actual money needs to be spent to improve one’s team.⁸⁶ Instead, players earn points by defeating others in online games, beating tasks and trading player cards in an online market hosted within the game. The reality, as constant sources have made clear, is that the majority of players do spend additional money to compete and, at various points, EA has introduced functions designed to encourage this behaviour such as loot boxes, special offers, and in-game challenges.⁸⁷ Variety is a key function designed to keep players engaged and the ability to play with players from the past offers an entirely new feature to the game. In essence, it ensures a near constant stream of new players who can be brought into play. Composite imagination, which is the ability to combine and mix historical periods, offers endless variety for players. The game’s history provides new content for EA and gives players a sense of autonomy in how this history is mediated.

In FIFA 2016 for the Xbox, legendary players were included for the first time in FUT.⁸⁸ Thus, gamers could play with legendary players through either the previously mentioned Classic XI or through the Ultimate Team. Critically many of the Ultimate Team legends did not appear in the Classic XI. One such example was legendary Brazilian player Pelé who could be found in the FUT but not the Classic XI. Since 2016, legends (now called Icons) have appeared in FIFA games across all major consoles. In FIFA 2023, 100 icons were available to play with, many of whom come in more than one version.⁸⁹ Hence, users selecting Pelé can choose a base, mid and upper tier card (each with progressively better statistics) as well as a special commemoration World Cup version. These players are mixed with contemporary athletes, which are again an example of composite imagination at play and, at a point that cannot be stressed enough, offer incredible profitability for EA. The newest iteration, FC24 offers over 120 players, from both the men’s and the women’s game and likewise employs a three-tiered system for legendary players (or ‘icons’).

While EA continues to assert that players do not have to use actual money, and that they can earn points to buy player packs, the reality is that the Ultimate Team is the primary profit source for EA. Ultimate Teams in EA’s various games – which span soccer, American football, ice hockey and baseball among others – earn the developer over $1 billion annually.⁹⁰ This figure has continued to climb yearly, and the majority comes from the FIFA/FC24 franchise and its American football equivalent. It has been an unequivocal success, but the game function has been criticised by gamers, developers, and gambling charities.⁹¹ Here, two of the most salient critiques will be discussed—that it operates on a gambling system and that it is impossible to succeed without spending actual money. Regarding the former, the player packets offered in Ultimate Team, which one needs to constantly purchase to upgrade their teams, are based upon chance and randomness. Often referred to as ‘loot boxes’ or, as some scholars have advocated, as ‘random reward mechanisms,’ this feature can be compared to a game of chance. Users wager/spend a certain amount of in-game currency in exchange for the opportunity to obtain a desirable player.⁹²

Controversies surrounding loot boxes are not unique to FIFA/FC24, and EA has suffered criticism for their inclusion across a range of its games, but the Ultimate Team is one of the most problematic versions given the game’s overall popularity.⁹³ At the time of writing loot boxes have been banned in certain countries, EA has been fined for contravening gambling laws in other countries and, in England, a lengthy public consultation has centred on whether or not loot boxes should be included in upcoming revisions to gambling legislation.⁹⁴ Research has been clear that loot boxes operate upon a gambling philosophy.⁹⁵ Changes in the Ultimate Team from 2018 to the present day illustrate the force of these observations. In FIFA 2019, gamers were told the probability that certain footballers would appear within a pack (i.e. there is a 60% chance of a gold standard player within this pack).⁹⁶ In FIFA 2021 users could preview the packs before purchasing them so they could decide whether to buy. While such measures have provided some safeguards – although research suggests Ultimate Team still encourages disordered gaming – EA still operates upon a game of chance ethos.⁹⁷ Desirable players, oftentimes those classed as legends or icons, are restricted in quantity, and command a large price. Despite repeated complaints, EA has continued to offer loot boxes in its new FC24 franchise.⁹⁸ Legendary players offer a significant benefit to EA. They allow near-endless inclusions within the game and provide variety to users outside of the relatively static make-up of traditional squads.

What then of claims that users can thrive in Ultimate Team without spending money? After all, the in-game currency is itself divided between an earned points system and a currency system acquired from purchasing in-game tokens. In 2021 a story went viral following one user’s calculation that it would take 66,666 games for them to earn enough points to create a ‘dream team’ featuring many legendary/icon players.⁹⁹ This came at the same time that EA was forced to conduct an internal investigation following the revelation that EA’s own employees had been selling Icon cards on a virtual black market.¹⁰⁰ Furthering criticisms of EA during this period were repeated newspaper and gaming blogs’ assertions that users were being forced to spend money in order to compete.¹⁰¹ The general consensus from gamers is that while it is technically possible to play without spending money on packs, it is simply not practical should one want to compete fully within this gaming function.¹⁰² While the Ultimate Team contains a virtual market – which engenders a certain ‘stock market’ mentality and behaviour among some users – many users buy packs through the game rather than indulge in card trading.¹⁰³ Others, as the case of EA’s own internal investigation highlighted, purchase players through ‘illegal’ avenues within the game.

Previous research reinforces the idea that the Ultimate Team is incredibly successful in pushing gamers towards spending their money.¹⁰⁴ Speaking to Eurogamer in 2021, Chris Bruzzo, EA’s Chief Experience Officer resisted claims that the Ultimate Team was predatory, instead linking it to game excitement and variability.¹⁰⁵ Despite Bruzzo’s assertions that children should not be spending money in the Ultimate Team – an assertion problematised by the direct advertising towards children which has occurred in the past – it is clear many children and adolescents do so.¹⁰⁶ This has broader moral and wellbeing implications which go beyond the scope of this article. A better question to end on is how does history fit into the Ultimate Team? The Ultimate Team engages in a form of composite imagination in which different eras of history seamlessly blend. It is thus possible to select a player from the 1960s and position them next to a player from the 2010s with minimal disruption.

Icons/Legendary players serve an important function in the Ultimate Team. They add new and noteworthy content. A common complaint about the FIFA franchise among videogame journalists is that new games often appear identical to previous editions save for slight changes in gameplay and updated matchday squads.¹⁰⁷ It is difficult to add new features to the game without alienating users, thus EA has chosen a relatively conservative approach across multiple years. Icons, however, allow EA to introduce new and unexpected players. They are restricted players within the FUT, thus making the attainment of these players akin to a new feature. During a calendar year – in the case of EA football games releases it is September to September – new Icons are introduced to the Ultimate Team. If a World Cup or major international tournament is on, more Icons will be released. Accepting that the Icons introduced follow the same white, Eurocentric bias discussed previously, a salient point is that Icons within the Ultimate Team are a core component of its profitability. They add variety not found elsewhere within the game and carry considerable social capital within the game. Evidence of this can be found in the hundreds of articles and videos detailing one’s team replete with Icon players.¹⁰⁸ History is being used to enrich the Ultimate Team and, despite any moral reservations one may have, EA is incredibly adept at using history in this regard as the Icons serve as some of the Ultimate Team’s rarest and most desirable players.

Conclusion

Whereas television and, prior to that, newspapers or radio once mediated one’s knowledge of football, a significant proportion of football fans today learn the sport through videogames. This may be a minor education in learning the names and attributes of players or, as research has shown, a full-blown introduction to the game.¹⁰⁹ Videogames have been embraced by broader market forces within the sport, but sports historians have not yet recognised this development. Indeed, there is an entrepreneurial history of sport videogames waiting to be written. Sports, and football, have a rich history, which has already been utilised in television, film, podcasts, and anime to great effect. It is no surprise, then, that videogames have likewise attempted to use history and nostalgia for content. This article has sought to do two things which can, hopefully, serve as a platform for later studies.

In the first instance, it has highlighted how and where EA has used history in its football videogames. How this history has been used differs from accurate retellings of the past, to efforts at rewriting supposed ‘wrongs’ within the sport. As is the case in other forms of media, the deployment of history serves several ideological purposes and, given EA's prominence within the West, it is unsurprising that the history presented in FIFA privileges white and European histories. This ranges from who is, and is not, seen as a legendary player, which historic moments are worthy of recreation, and which teams qualify as important. While these decisions can perhaps be explained away by EA’s predominantly European and American market, or that it is ‘just’ a game, the Ultimate Team points to a much more problematic use of history. Popular media has long used history as a dramatic backdrop. Used correctly, history can be used as a selling device for anything from television and film or, in the case of sport, replica jerseys.¹¹⁰

The second element that this article examined was the Ultimate Team and the inclusion of Icons or Legends. Here it was argued that the Ultimate Team uses history to further deepen user’s engagement with an in-game feature. The Ultimate Team is, however, seen as problematic by many within the gaming and gambling industry, especially in its popularity among younger users. There is uneasiness about the use of history within this feature and one which deserves further scrutiny. Here history is being used, not just as a game feature, but in a pay to play model which, despite EA’s protestations, has been likened by many to online gambling. For historians, it is critical that we begin to scrutinise banal and problematic forms of history within videogames. While those outside of sports history have already begun to do so, sport historians – who have been sensitive to the evolution of sports gambling for several decades – are particularly well suited to do so.¹¹¹

When FIFA was first released in 1994 it was pixelated, without accurate player names, and was played without match commentary. Within a decade the game was a global force, and this is doubly so now in the 2020s. History was first used as an additional feature or a fun quirk within games. Now it occupies a significant place within storyline modes and online gaming. Fans of the franchise will be accustomed to EA’s slogan, ‘it’s in the game’. For historians, this is precisely the point. History is in the game and deserves our collective examination.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Conor Heffernan

Conor Heffernan is a Lecturer in the Sociology of Sport.

Notes

1 Mark James, ‘Virtually Foul Or Virtually Fair? FIFA, Fair Play and Video Gaming’, in Readings In Law And Popular Culture, eds. Guy Osborn and Steve Greenfield (London: Taylor And Francis, 2007), 137–8.

2 Ibid.

3 James Metcalfe, ‘Fifa 23 Player Count – How Many People Are Playing The Game?’, Gameelevate, December 16, 2022, https://Gamelevate.Com/Fifa-23-Player-Count-How-Many-People-Are-Playing-Fifa/ (Accessed June 1, 2023).

4 Dario Andric, ‘How Many People Play EA Sports FIFA?’, Levvel, August 3, 2023, https://Levvvel.Com/Ea-Sports-Fifa-Statistics/ (Accessed November 28, 2023).

5 Kat Bailey, ‘EA Strikes Big Money Deal With English Premier League After Losing FIFA Name’, IGN, February 11, 2023, https://Www.Ign.Com/Articles/Ea-Strikes-Big-Money-Deal-With-English-Premier-League-After-Losing-Fifa-Name (Accessed May 31, 2023).

6 Raiford Guins, Henry Lowood and Carlin Wing, ‘Pre-Match Commentary’, in EA Sports FIFA: Feeling The Game, eds. Raiford Guins, Henry Lowood and Carlin Wing (New York: Bloomsbury, 2022), 1–28.

7 Andrei S. Markovits and Adam I. Green, ‘FIFA, The Videogame: A Major Vehicle For Soccer’s Popularization In The United States’, Sport In Society 20, No. 5–6 (2017): 716–34; Myriam Davidovici-Nora, ‘Paid And Free Digital Business Models Innovations In The Videogame Industry’, Digiworld Economic Journal 94 (2014): 83–102; Hamed Aliyari et al. ‘The Effects Of FIFA 2015 Computer Games On Changes In Cognitive, Hormonal And Brain Waves Functions Of Young Men Volunteers’. Basic and Clinical Neuroscience 6, No. 3 (2015): 193–02.

8 Chris Scullion, ‘EA Sports FC 24 Comes Out On Top During Black Friday Week In The UK Physical Charts’. VGC, November 28, 2023, https://Www.Videogameschronicle.Com/News/Ea-Sports-Fc-24-Comes-Out-On-Top-During-Black-Friday-Week-In-The-Uk-Physical-Charts/ ( Accessed November 28 , 2023).

9 Markovits and Green, ‘FIFA, The Videogame’.

10 Andrew Braeg, ‘Exploiting Nationalism and Banal Cosmopolitanism: EA’s FIFA World Cup 2010’, in Playing To Win: Sports, Videogames, And The Culture Of Play, eds. R.A. Brookey and T.P. Oates (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2015), 172–190.

11 Garry Crawford et al., ‘All Avatars Aren't We’: Football And The Experience Of Football-Themed Digital Content During A Global Pandemic’, International Review For The Sociology Of Sport 57, No. 4 (2022): 515–31. On Crawford’s Engagement With Videogames See Daniel Muriel And Garry Crawford, Videogames As Culture: Considering The Role And Importance Of Videogames In Contemporary Society (London: Routledge, 2018).

12 Paul Ian Campbell and Marcus Maloney, ‘White Digital Footballers Can’t Jump’:(Re) Constructions Of Race In FIFA 20’, Soccer & Society 23, No. 8 (2022): 894–908.

13 Braeg, ‘Exploiting Nationalism And Banal Cosmopolitanism’.

14 Guins, Lowood and Wing, ‘Pre-Match Commentary’, 1–12.

15 An Excellent Study In This Regard Is Ashley Hinck, ‘Shifting Patterns Of Football Fandom and Digital Media Cultures: Youtube, Fifa Videogames, and AFC Wimbledon’, in Digital Football Cultures, eds. Stefan Lawrence and Garry Crawford (London: Routledge, 2018), 104–21.

16 John Bloom, A House Of Cards: Baseball Card Collecting And Popular Culture (Minneapolis: U Of Minnesota Press, 1997); Christopher Stride, Jean Williams, David Moor, and Nick Catley. ‘From Sportswear To Leisurewear: The Evolution Of English Football League Shirt Design In The Replica Kit Era’. Sport In History 35, No. 1 (2015): 156 –94.

17 Matt Slater, ‘FIFA: The Game That Changed The Game’, The Athletic, October 7, 2021, https://Theathletic.Com/2827458/2021/10/07/Fifa-The-Game-That-Changed-The-Game/ (accessed April 4, 2023).

18 A Nice Introductory Piece for Historians Is Esther Wright, ‘On the Promotional Context of Historical Videogames’, Rethinking History 22, No. 4 (2018): 598–608.

19 Seán Crosson, Sport and Film (London: Routledge, 2013); Dennis Deninger, Sports On Television: The How And Why Behind What You See (London: Routledge, 2012). See Also Brett Hutchins and David Rowe. Sport Beyond Television: The Internet, Digital Media And The Rise Of Networked Media Sport (London: Routledge, 2012).

20 Scott Alan Metzger and Richard J. Paxton. ‘Gaming History: A Framework For What Videogames Teach About The Past’. Theory & Research In Social Education 44, No. 4 (2016): 532–64.

21 Espen Aarseth, ‘Computer Game Studies, Year One’, Game Studies 1, No. 1 (2001): 1–2.

22 Akshita Toshniwal, ‘Video-Gaming Revenue To Grow 2.6% In 2023 On Console Sales Strength – Report’, Reuters, August 8, 2023, https://Www.Reuters.Com/Technology/Video-Gaming-Revenue-Grow-26-2023-Console-Sales-Strength-Report-2023-08-08/ ( Accessed November 28, 2023).

23 Adam Chapman, Digital Games As History: How Videogames Represent The Past And Offer Access To Historical Practice (London: Routledge, 2016).

24 Johnathan Anderson, ‘Is It In The Game? Reflections Of Race-Based Stereotypes In EA SPORTS FIFA 22’, Communication & Sport (2023): 1–12.

25 Lu Zhouxiang, ‘The Birth and Development Of Sports Videogames From The 1950s To The Early 1980s’, Sport History Review 1, No. Aop (2023): 1–25.

26 Constance Steinkuehler, ‘Esports Research: Critical, Empirical, and Historical Studies Of Competitive Videogame Play’, Games and Culture 15, No. 1 (2020): 3–8.

27 Mariona Rosell Llorens, ‘Esport Gaming: The Rise Of A New Sports Practice’, Sport, Ethics and Philosophy 11, No. 4 (2017): 464–76.

28 Andrew Baerg, ‘Digital Hoops History: NBA 2K12 And Remediating Basketball’s Past’, Communication & Sport 1, No. 4 (2013): 365–81.

29 Tara Jane Copplestone, ‘But That’s Not Accurate: The Differing Perceptions Of Accuracy In Cultural-Heritage Videogames Between Creators, Consumers And Critics’, Rethinking History 21, No. 3 (2017): 415–38.

30 Dawn Spring, ‘Gaming History: Computer and Videogames As Historical Scholarship’, Rethinking History 19, No. 2 (2015): 207–21.

31 Chapman, Digital Games As History, 15.

32 Ibid., 15–22.

33 Ibid., 40–43.

34 Ibid., 36.

35 See Harry J. Brown, Videogames and Education (London: Routledge, 2014).

36 A. Martin Wainwright, Virtual History: How Videogames Portray The Past (London: Routledge, 2019), 5–12.

37 Chapman, Digital Games As History, 36–40.

38 Adam Chapman, ‘Is Sid Meier's Civilization History?’, Rethinking History 17, No. 3 (2013): 312–32.

39 Chapman, Digital Games As History, 39.

40 Abraham Stein, ‘The Sentimental Mood Of All-Star Baseball 2004’, Eludamos 5, No. 1 (2011): 111–5.

41 Baerg, ‘Digital Hoops History: NBA 2K12 And Remediating Basketball’s Past’.

42 Garry Crawford et al., ‘All Avatars Aren't We’.

43 Metzger and Richard J. Paxton. "Gaming History’.

44 Ibid., 537–63.

45 Ibid., 542–4.

46 Chris Scullion, ‘The Complete History Of FIFA World Cup Videogames’, Tired Old Hack, https://Tiredoldhack.Com/2018/06/17/The-Complete-History-Of-Fifa-World-Cup-Video-Games/ (Accessed April 4, 2023).

47 Ibid.

48 Ibid.

49 Scullion, ‘The Complete History of FIFA World Cup Videogames’.

50 Slater, ‘FIFA: The Game That Changed The Game’.

51 Ibid.

52 Michael Errigo, ‘Here’s What FIFA’s Divorce With EA Sports Means For Videogame Fans’, The Washington Post, May 10, 2022.

53 Jeff Lackey, ‘World Cup 98: EA Sports Scores A Gooooaaaaaalll!!!!!,’ CD Mag, Jan 1. 1997.

54 Wesley Yin-Poole, ‘FIFA 19's The Journey Begins With An Awesome Throwback To 60s Football And Some Legendary Commentary’, Eurogamer, September 21, 2018, https://Www.Eurogamer.Net/Fifa-19s-The-Journey-Begins-With-An-Awesome-Nod-To-60s-Football-With-Some-Legendary-Commentary (Accessed February 28, 2023).

55 ‘Europe | Story Of Qualifying - Challenges 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil Guide’, Game Pressure, May 11, 2016, https://Guides.Gamepressure.Com/Brazilworldcup/Guide.Asp?ID = 25091 (Accessed June 5, 2023).

56 ‘FIFA '10 World Cup Guide’, IGN News, March 27, 2012, https://Www.Ign.Com/Wikis/2010-Fifa-World-Cup-South-Africa/Game_Modes_Part_3 (Accessed 4 April 2023).

57 One Such Example Is Garry Whannel, ‘The Four Minute Mythology: Documenting Drama On Film and Television’, Sport In History 26, No. 2 (2006): 263–79.

58 Campbell And Maloney, ‘White Digital Footballers Can’t Jump’.

59 Jesse Fox and Wai Yen Tang, ‘Sexism in Videogames and the Gaming Community, in New Perspectives On The Social Aspects Of Digital Gaming, eds. Thorsten Quandt and Rachel Kowert (London: Routledge, 2017), 115–35.

60 Metzger and Paxton, ‘Gaming History: A Framework For What Videogames Teach About The Past’, 542–4.

61 ‘World XI’, FIFA Football Videogames Wiki, https://Fifafootballvideogames.Fandom.Com/Wiki/World_XI (Accessed September 5, 2021).

62 Wesley Yin-Poole, ‘FIFA 20 Gets Classic XI Team, Putting FUT-Exclusive Icons In Kick Off And Career Mode’, Euro Gamer, June 11, 2020, https://Www.Eurogamer.Net/Fifa-20-Gets-Classic-Xi-Team-Putting-Fut-Exclusive-Icons-In-Kick-Off-And-Career-Mode (Accessed April 5, 2021).

63 ‘Soccer Aid’, Ultra FIFA, https://En.Ultrafifa.Com/Team_Fifa2320230206 = 114815( Accessed June 4, 2023).

64 Evzhenya, ‘FIFA 08 | Classic 11 VS World 11 | (PC),’ Youtube, March 15, 2021, https://Www.Youtube.Com/Watch?V = Imzne1er6oy (Accessed June 5, 2023).

65 Campbell and Maloney, ‘White Digital Footballers Can’t Jump’.

66 Andric, ‘How Many People Play EA Sports FIFA?’

67 Ibid.

68 ‘FIFA 2000 Classic Teams,’ FIFA Fandom, https://Fifa2000classicteams.Forumfree.It/?F = 64948232 (Accessed June 1, 2023).

69 This is Rooted, in Part, In Football’s Racialized Past Paul Dietschy, ‘Making Football Global? FIFA, Europe, and the Non-European Football World, 1912–74’, Journal Of Global History 8, No. 2 (2013): 279–98.

70 Paul Dietschy, ‘Making Football Global? FIFA, Europe, and the Non-European Football World, 1912–74’, Journal Of Global History 8, No. 2 (2013): 279–98.

71 Xeniya Kondrat, ‘Gender And Videogames: How Is Female Gender Generally Represented In Various Genres Of Videogames?’, Journal Of Comparative Research IN Anthropology and Sociology 6, No. 01 (2015): 171–93.

72 Ibid.

73 Michal Lev-Ram, ‘EA’s CEO Talks About Finally Adding Women’s Teams To FIFA Videogame’, Fortune. September 12, 2015, http://Fortune.Com/2015/07/08/Womens-Soccer-Fifa-Video-Game/ (Accessed June 5, 2023).

74 In 2000 Michael Owen’s WLS 2000 Videogame Was Released in North America as Mia Hamm Soccer 64. Selling Over 40,000 Copies, Mia Hamm Soccer 64 Was Critiqued Widely As A Cynical Attempt to Capitalize On The Women’s World Cup (The Game Was Released in the Buildup to the Tournament). Travis Yoesting, ‘Remembering the First Women’s Soccer Game: Mia Hamm Soccer 64’, The 18, May 10, 2018, https://The18.Com/En/Soccer-Entertainment/Mia-Hamm-Soccer-64 (Accessed June 3, 2023).

75 Jonas Sohns, ‘EA Sports FC: Female Players Get Icon Cards In Ultimate Team’, Early Game, April 17, 2023, https://Earlygame.Com/Fifa/Ea-Sports-Fc-Women-Get-Icon-Cards-In-Ultimate-Team (Accessed May 5, 2023).

76 Yin-Poole, ‘FIFA 19's the Journey Begins With an Awesome Throwback to 60s Football and Some Legendary Commentary’.

77 Ibid.

78 EA, ‘Q&A with Marcus Rashford on the Journey - FIFA 17’, EA, https://Www.Ea.Com/Games/Fifa/News/Fifa-17-Marcus-Rashford-Journey  (Accessed June 6, 2023).

79 Dexter Thomas, ‘People Are Mad They Have To Play A Black Character In FIFA 17’, Vice News, September 29, 2016, https://Www.Vice.Com/En/Article/Ev99yj/People-Are-Mad-They-Have-To-Play-A-Black-Character-In-Fifa-17 (Accessed June 1, 2023).

80 David J. Leonard, ‘Saving/Staging Whiteness: Racial Reconciliation in 42 and FIFA 2017/2018’. Black Camera 10, No. 1 (2018): 177–92.

81 At The Very Least, This is a Deeply Contested Area and This Has Long Been The Case. Douglas Hartmann, ‘Rethinking The Relationships Between Sport And Race In American Culture: Golden Ghettos And Contested Terrain’, Sociology of Sport Journal 17, No. 3 (2000): 229–53. A Powerful Piece On This Phenomena Is David L. Andrews, Ronald L. Mower, and Michael L. Silk, ‘Ghettocentrism and The Essentialized Black Male Athlete’, in Commodified And Criminalized: New Racism And African Americans In Contemporary Sports, eds. David J. Leonard, C. Richard King (Rowman & Littlefield: Lanham, 2011): 69–93.

82 John Price, Neil Farrington, Daniel Kilvington, and Amir Saeed. "Black, White, and Read All Over: Institutional Racism and The Sports Media’. International Journal Of Sport & Society 3, No. 2 (2013): 81–90.

83 ‘The Ultimate Team,’ EA, November 1, 2022, https://Help.Ea.Com/In/Help-Redirect-Ab-Request/?Product = Fifa-23 (Accessed January 1, 2023).

84 Justin Calvert, ‘UEFA Champions League 2006–2007 Hands-On’, Game Spot, January 19, 2007, https://Www.Gamespot.Com/Articles/Uefa-Champions-League-2006-2007-Hands-On/1100-6164480/ (February 5, 2023).

85 Ibid.

86 ‘The Ultimate Team’.

87 Jonas Sohns, ‘This Is How Much Money EA Sports Earns With FIFA 23’, Early Game, May 24, 2023, https://Earlygame.Com/Fifa/Ea-Sports-Fifa-23-Money-Earnings-Most-Successful-Fifa-Ever (Accessed November 27, 2023).

88 Albaraa Fahmy, ‘FIFA 16 Changes How Legends Work In Ultimate Team’, Digital Spy, August 4, 2015, https://Www.Digitalspy.Com/Videogames/Gamescom/A661790/Fifa-16-Changes-How-Legends-Work-In-Ultimate-Team/ (Accessed June 5, 2023).

89 ‘FUT Icons – FIFA 23’, EA, https://Www.Ea.Com/En-Gb/Games/Fifa/Fifa-23/Ultimate-Team/Icons (Accessed June 6, 2023).

90 Ibid.

91 Kenneth Andersen, ‘£30 Ultimate Team Pack Triggers Outrage With EA Sports FC 24 Players’, The Mirror, October 3, 2023, https://Metro.Co.Uk/2023/10/03/30-Ultimate-Team-Pack-Triggers-Outrage-With-Ea-Sports-Fc-24-Players-19596525/ ( Accessed November 27, 2023). Jamie Barton, ‘Meet The Men Hiding Their FIFA Ultimate Team Addiction From Their Families’, Rock, Paper, Shotgun, October 20, 2023, https://Www.Rockpapershotgun.Com/Meet-The-Men-Hiding-Their-Fifa-Ultimate-Team-Addiction-From-Their-Families (Accessed November 17, 2023). Marco Wutz, ‘FIFA Ultimate Team Packs Are “Illegal Gambling”, Austrian Court Rules’, Videogames, March 6 2023, https://Videogames.Si.Com/News/Fifa-Lootboxes-Illegal-Gambling-Fut-Packs-Austria (Accessed November 10, 2023).

92 Kimberly Kelling and Samuel Tham, “Role” of the Dice: An Exploratory Analysis Of Gamer Perceptions and Interpretations of Loot Box Advertising’, Journal of Interactive Advertising 21, No. 1 (2021): 68–74.

93 Ibid.

94 Leon Xiao and Pieterjan Declerck, ‘Paid Videogame Loot Boxes Are Not Gambling Under Dutch Gambling Regulation? Shifting The Goalpost In Electronic Arts V Kansspelautoriteit’, Shifting The Goalpost In Electronic Arts V Kansspelautoriteit (2022).

95 Gabriel A. Brooks and Luke Clark, ‘Associations Between Loot Box Use, Problematic Gaming And Gambling, and Gambling-Related Cognitions’, Addictive Behaviors 96 (2019): 26–34; Heather Wardle and David Zendle,’"Loot Boxes, Gambling, And Problem Gambling Among Young People: Results From A Cross-Sectional Online Survey’. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking 24, No. 4 (2021): 267–74; Shaun Stephen Garea, Aaron Drummond, James D. Sauer, Lauren C. Hall, and Matthew Neil Williams, ’Meta-Analysis Of The Relationship Between Problem Gambling, Excessive Gaming And Loot Box Spending’. International Gambling Studies 21, No. 3 (2021): 460–79.

96 Ibid.

97 Leon Y. Xiao, ‘Beneath The Label: Unsatisfactory Compliance With ESRB, PEGI And IARC Industry Self-Regulation Requiring Loot Box Presence Warning Labels By Videogame Companies’, Royal Society Open Science 10, No. 3 (2023): 230–70.

98 Andersen, ‘£30 Ultimate Team Pack’.

99 Nathan Bliss, ‘EA Challenges FIFA 21 Ultimate Team 'True Cost' Viral Post And Clarifies FUT Premise’, Irish Mirror, March 22, 2021, https://Www.Irishmirror.Ie/Sport/Soccer/Soccer-News/Ea-Fifa-Ultimate-Team-Cost-23775708 (Accessed February 5, 2023).

100 Manny Gomez, ‘The Black Market Of FIFA Ultimate Team’, ESTNN, March 18, 2021,https://Estnn.Com/Fifa-The-Black-Market-Of-Fifa-Ultimate-Team/  (Accessed June 2, 2023).

101 Bliss, ‘EA Challenges FIFA 21 Ultimate Team 'True Cost’.

102 Ibid.

103 ‘FIFA Ultimate Team and The Transfer Market,’ EA, https://Www.Ea.Com/Games/Fifa/News/Fut-Price-Ranges-Update ( Accessed June 3, 2023).

104 Jeroen S. Lemmens, ‘Play Or Pay To Win: Loot Boxes And Gaming Disorder In FIFA Ultimate Team’, Telematics and Informatics Reports 8 (2022): 100023; Piotr Siuda, ‘Sports Gamers Practices as a Form Of Subversiveness–The Example Of The FIFA Ultimate Team’, Critical Studies In Media Communication 38, No. 1 (2021): 75–89.

105 Wesley Yin-Poole, ‘The Big Interview: EA, FIFA and Loot Boxes’, Eurogamer, October 8, 2021, https://Www.Eurogamer.Net/The-Big-Interview-Ea-Fifa-And-Loot-Boxes (Accessed June 4, 2023).

106 Ibid; Barry Collins, ‘How To Stop Kids Racking-Up Huge Bills In FIFA 23’s Ultimate Team’, Evening Standard, September 28, 2022, https://Www.Standard.Co.Uk/Tech/Gaming/Stop-Kids-Huge-Bills-Ultimate-Team-Fifa-23-B1028510.Html (Accessed June 4, 2023).

107 ‘Who Said FIFA Series Is Always The Same?’, Fifplay, 2021, https://Www.Fifplay.Com/Who-Said-Fifa-Series-Is-Always-The-Same/ ( Accessed April 4, 2023).

108 An Illustrative Example is Alex Frieling, ‘Best FIFA 23 Team: For FUT and Online Matches’, Early Game, September 22, 2022, https://Earlygame.Com/Fifa/Fifa-23-Best-Fut-Team-Club (Accessed March 5, 2023).

109 Markovits and Green, ‘FIFA, The Videogame … ’

110 Stride et al., ‘From Sportswear to Leisurewear … ’

111 A Nice Overview Related to Football Is Mike Huggins, ‘Football And Gambling’, in Routledge Handbook Of Football Studies, eds. John Hughson, Kevin Moore, Ramón Spaaij and Joseph Maguire (London: Routledge, 2016), 79–89.