In fact, some years ago a number of accounts on both Xbox Live and PlayStation Network were compromised with the sole purpose of purchasing more card packs for FIFA Ultimate Team. So not so upstanding citizens of the world then purchased FIFA Ultimate Team packs through those accounts by either draining the account's remaining balance or by attaching stolen credit cards to the account. That's just a small taste of how appealing Ultimate Team is for some users. After the rise in popularity with FIFA, EA Sports continued with their Madden NFL franchise. Thankfully, the more niche appeal of American football means that there is a slightly lower risk of accounts being compromised to purchase Madden Ultimate Team card packs.
The core idea behind the Ultimate Team is that players try to build up their ultimate fantasy team by opening up randomized card packs full of players all with unique stats. These card packs are typically offered by various levels of card rarity, with the more expensive packs obviously giving you better chances at the more rare cards with better stats on them. Now, most players will probably just want to pay as little as possible in order to play these types of game modes. Others, have wildly different ideas.
It is possible to never pay an extra penny of your hard-earned money and still have a fulfilling time with Ultimate Team. Others find joy in spending vast amounts of cash on these packs. Keep in mind that these packs all contain random offerings and you do not know what you will get until you purchase them with either real money or in-game money and then open them. Simply put, it's a big gamble and these people either know the risks or they make enough to not care. Sure, they could always just hit up fruity king casino it was purely about the allure of gambling, but there seems to be something else at play here.
No, it seems as though a lot of these players are addicted more to the thrill of dominating their opponents online. While it may not strictly be a "pay to win" situation, it sure seems as though the ones with the fattest wallets will be the ones that get the upper hand the fastest.
Since this Ultimate Team mode has apparently been so popular for EA, I wouldn't be surprised to see it implemented in other ways across other gaming IPs. If nothing else, I would not expect to see the Ultimate Team disappear from either FIFA or Madden games any time soon. It is a huge appeal for both the consumers and for EA, who are undoubtedly making a pretty penny off of those who purchase packs with real-world money.
