EA is testing a new variant of card packages, the Lootboxes in Ultimate Team. With “Preview Packs”, the content is displayed before purchase. Unlike before, players can not only look at (the low) chances of winning, but at the cards included in the package. This serves as a potential defense against legislative measures.
For the remainder of the ongoing “Festival of FUTball” event, all card packages will become the new preview packages, which will reveal their exact content before purchase. Instead of immediate purchase, the new packs initially only offer a preview, the look of which corresponds to the opening of a package. Only when a potential buyer has viewed the content is it possible to purchase the playing cards for either game or premium currency.
EA also emphasized several times in the announcement that a preview does not oblige you to buy, the decision is made by a player only after the ad. If the decision is made against the purchase, the package remains in the shop for the time being. In this case, however, no other package of the same type can be viewed or purchased for a period of time. Based on the screenshots that EA showed when the feature was presented, the timer expires after 24 hours.
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An eye symbol indicates the preview option (Image: EA)
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An eye icon indicates the preview option 
The purchase is only possible after viewing the preview 
If not purchased, the package blocks the purchase for a while another EA indicates the new feature of the card packages with an eye symbol. This makes two things clear: First, the additional information underlines that normal packages without the preview function will return after the event has ended. Second, it makes it clear that preview packages should be part of the offer in the in-game shop.
Reaction to pressure
The action can be classified as a test balloon in anticipation of the classification of Ultimate Team as a game of chance by other states. The criticism of this game mode has not ebbed in the past few months either, it stands – especially after problematic defensive attempts by the publisher – for unrestrained, profit-maximizing use of this type of microtransaction.
Greater transparency could be a suitable means of preventing legislative measures in the sense of a voluntary commitment without having a major impact on sales. If you like random rewards, you will hardly have to wait and buy even if the contents are poor – because nothing changes in the mechanics and the basic problem of the boxes, which has been sketched over and over again. The balance sheets show why EA is sticking to this type of additional purchase with all its might: The game mode generated sales of almost 1.6 billion US dollars in the past fiscal year and was thus responsible for almost a third of all the company's income.