Young Boy Lost His University Funds to FIFA Video Game
When you think of video games, what majorly comes to mind is the idea of having fun, during a pastime. But what do you call it when a teenager ends up blowing his college fees and parents savings on buying random player packs for his FIFA football video game? This is a short story of a boy who became addicted to playing a video game at the expense of his family’s peace of mind and happiness.
Who is Jonathan Peniket?
Jonathan Peniket is a 21-year-old who came out to tell his story. He loved video games from a very early stage in life, and so he played them quite often, right from the days of FIFA 05 and several others.
When EA Sports launched the Ultimate Team game mode among their FIFA series in 2009, gaming for Jonathan rose to a whole different level entirely. This game mode is a massive online football card game in which users trade and then add the newly acquired players to their teams.
To get new and better players, you make use of the virtual currency and market where the cards are traded, and this is done by buying packs of a random selection of tickets.
When Jonathan first started, his dad was against the idea and tried to explain how that was a form of gambling. But he didn’t listen. Instead, he was furious and made sure to buy packs.
He kept buying and buying, first he used his pocket money, money from his parents, vouchers, and the likes of it. Mind you, and his parents did not know he was engrossed in it. Such that when the topic was ever raised, he brushed it off and tried to tell them he wasn’t addicted.
Hope for more luck
Four years went by, yet he kept buying packs, hoping for more luck as he bought each pack. His hunger for money to purchase packs became insatiable. When he got his first debit card at the age of 17, his case worsened, and all he could think of spending money was ‘loot packs’ as he called it.
Then, in 2017, something tragic happened; his mother was diagnosed with cancer, and he was in the last year of A levels, unsure of his future. With a situation like that, anyone would be anxious and frustrated. This was Jonathan’s case, too, but he decided to take solace and comfort in buying more packs.
According to our sources from Betsafe Canada, to whom the boy explained that the ‘buzz of opening packs’ was what kept him going. And it was until he had spent about $3,000 on packs when he finally came back to his senses. He then realized he had blown his parents and grandparents hard-earned money on the Ultimate Team.
He accepted the responsibility for his actions, but it didn’t change what had happened, neither did it take away the pain and sadness his family felt when they found out. Checking through the bank statements was even more torturing. He also came to admit that loot boxes and video game packs are both forms of gambling.
Desire to inform and educate others
One primary reason that made him come out with this story is the House of Lords Gambling Committee’s issue on the regulation of this type of purchase under gambling laws. Jonathan decided he wants to inform, educate, and protect people from going through all these.
EA Sports, the FIFA makers, have denied any aspect of FIFA constituting any form of gambling. They have also agreed with the investigation carried out by the Gambling Commission that the loot boxes are not gambling.
They have claimed that FIFA Ultimate Team can be played without spending a dime and that any purchase whatsoever is entirely optional. They have also stated that their players’ welfare is a primary concern and that all their games have the parental control key of clubbing or restricting excessive spending.