Football card packs sit on a fault line. For many players, tearing open a pack is the best part of a collecting game. For regulators and researchers, a pack that costs real money and pays out at random is a loot box, and loot boxes look a lot like gambling. Both views have evidence behind them. This guide lays out what each side gets right, what the research shows, and how you can judge any card game before you spend a cent.
TL;DR
- A football card pack is one form of a loot box: a random reward, sometimes bought with real money, where you don’t know the value beforehand.
- The debate is about paid randomness, not about collecting. Regulators worry about spending, children and links to problem gambling.
- Research shows spending is concentrated among a small group, and that playing time can matter more than money for results.
- Rules differ by country, so check the label, the odds disclosure and whether you can cash out items before you spend.
- Games where packs are earned through play rather than bought, like Vladers, take most of the sting out of the argument.
Table of Contents
- What a football card pack actually is
- Why players love opening packs
- The case against: why packs count as loot boxes
- The case for: what the numbers also show
- How different countries handle it
- How to judge a card game before you spend
- Our perspective on packs
- Build a squad without the pay pressure
- FAQ
- Sources
What a football card pack actually is
A card pack is a bundle of digital footballers you open to see who you got. Some are common, a few are rare, and the best are very rare. That is the same loop as physical football cards and sticker albums, moved onto a phone.
Researchers group these together. A 2024 legal review describes paid loot boxes as virtual items bought with real-world money and opened to get random rewards of varying value. Rarer rewards are the desirable ones, and common ones are often duplicates or weaker items. The same review treats card packs, character summons and gacha as different presentations of one category: in-game transactions with a random element.
The European Parliament’s 2020 study adds that the contents can be cosmetic or can affect gameplay, and that loot boxes are an important way free-to-play games make money. That last point explains why the debate won’t go away: the mechanic is profitable.
Why players love opening packs
Before the criticism, it is fair to say why the mechanic works. Pack opening is fun for the same reason it was fun in the schoolyard.
Academic work on football card modes describes the appeal plainly: players build a dream team from scratch and keep improving it for multiplayer play. Three things drive it:
- Anticipation. You don’t know what is coming, so each reveal carries a small jolt.
- Ownership. Cards are yours, they have stats, and each one changes what your squad can do.
- Progress. A better card gives you a visible upgrade you can test in the next match.
The UK Gambling Commission’s expert advisers note that loot boxes appeal through surprise, social currency and similarity to physical football-card or sticker collections. In other words, the nostalgia is real and nobody is imagining it.
The case against: why packs count as loot boxes
The same advice makes the critic’s argument. A loot box is a purchase or stake for a reward of unknown value. Digital versions differ from a physical pack in two ways, according to the advisers: audiovisual presentation intensifies the surprise, and online purchasing can allow virtually unlimited spending. A shop sells you one wax pack at a time. An app can sell you the next one in two taps, forever.
The European Parliament’s study raises consumer-protection concerns because the random rewards closely resemble games of chance and may form a gateway from gaming to gambling, particularly for children and adolescents. The 2024 legal review calls paid loot boxes gambling-like.
What the evidence says about harm
The research is more specific than the slogans on either side.
- A GambleAware systematic review reports that links between loot-box engagement and problem gambling were robustly verified in around a dozen studies. A link is not proof that packs cause problem gambling, but it is a pattern researchers keep finding.
- A 2022 peer-reviewed study of 1,144 international FIFA Ultimate Team players found that employment status and reward sensitivity predicted spending on player packs. Gaming-disorder severity predicted spending both directly and through autonomy motivation.
- A June 2024 study of one mobile game used data from 2.5 million users. Players opened around 20 million paid loot boxes, which generated 96% of the company’s in-game revenue.
That last number shows how much a game can depend on paid randomness.
The case for: what the numbers also show
The evidence does not point only one way, and an honest debate should say so.
The 2022 FIFA Ultimate Team study found that playing time predicted achievement more strongly than spending. Spending still improved rankings and players’ sense of competence, autonomy and relatedness, so money helps. But time and skill mattered more in that sample.
The 2024 mobile-game study also found that different players use loot boxes differently. Regular users valued them mainly because they complemented gameplay, while high spenders got most of their value from the utility or thrill of opening them. Spending was concentrated, and the study’s simulations favored spending caps over a blanket ban.
Taken together, the picture looks like this:
| Question | What the research suggests |
|---|---|
| Do most players overspend? | Spending is concentrated in a small group, so averages hide the risk. |
| Is paying the only way to win? | In one large football-card sample, playing time predicted achievement more than spending. |
| Is a ban the only fix? | One simulation favored caps on spending over a ban. |
| Is there a risk link? | Multiple studies connect loot-box engagement with problem gambling. |
So the fair reading is not “packs are evil” or “packs are harmless”. It is that the design around the packs decides most of the outcome: whether you pay, how much you can spend, and whether skill still counts.
How different countries handle it
There is no single worldwide rule. The 2024 legal review records mandatory or expected probability disclosure in China, Taiwan and South Korea. It also records gambling-law enforcement or restrictions in several European countries and Australia, and ratings and warnings in countries including Germany, Australia and the United States. Elsewhere you find mixes of litigation, self-regulation and proposed bans. Stanford Law School’s summary of the review makes the same point: approaches range widely.
One detail matters a lot to legal analysts. According to the same review, items that can be transferred and converted into real-world value raise different regulatory questions from isolated, non-transferable virtual rewards. If you can sell a card for cash, a pack looks more like a bet. If a card only lives inside the game, the argument is weaker.
There is also a transparency gap. The UK Gambling Commission’s advisers noted that actual average spending data by age group was not publicly available there, which makes risk hard to measure from the outside.
How to judge a card game before you spend
You don’t need to wait for lawmakers. A few checks take five minutes and tell you most of what matters.
- Find out what a pack costs and how you get it. Is it bought with real money, with currency you can buy, or earned through play? Paid randomness is the part the debate is about.
- Look for odds. If a game won’t tell you how likely a rare card is, treat that as a warning.
- Check for transfer and cash-out. Can cards be sold or traded for money? If not, nothing you pull can become cash, and that lowers the stakes.
- Test whether skill still wins. Play a few matches with only starter cards. If you can win through timing and smart squad choices, packs are a bonus rather than a toll.
- Set a limit first. Decide a monthly amount, possibly zero, before you open the store. Spending data shows that a small group spends heavily, so a pre-set cap protects you from becoming part of it.
- Watch your own pattern. If you open packs to chase a feeling, buy more after a loss, or hide spending, step away. If it feels out of control, talk to your doctor or a gambling-help service in your country.
Parents can use the same list. Check the store settings on the device, turn on purchase approval and ask what the game sells before it goes on a child’s phone.
Our perspective on packs
We build a football card game, so we have a stake in this debate, and we would rather state it than dodge it.
We think the collecting instinct is healthy. Opening a pack and seeing a new striker for your squad is a joy, and we don’t want to remove it. What we want to remove is the pressure to pay for it. Vladers is free to play, and progression does not require any purchase. Packs are opened with coins you earn by playing, and coins are not sold. The game makes money from optional rewarded video ads and an optional Boost subscription, which removes those ads and adds bonus coins on each renewal. The Pack Shop shows the drop rates for every pack, and cards stay inside the game: there is no way to sell them for money. Many people play without ever paying, and that is a design goal, not an accident.
We also think the debate misses something about matches. In Vladers each round is a reaction duel: you tap faster than your opponent to win possession, then build your attack. Card stats, formations, special actions and powers all matter, but so does your timing. When a match rewards your reflexes and your squad choices, the rarest card is an edge, not a guarantee. That is the opposite of a game where the outcome is fixed by what you bought.
Our advice to any player is the same one we follow when we design: pick games where you understand how you earn cards, where the game says what is random, and where you can get better by playing. We wrote more about this in our guide to avoiding pay-to-win games.
— Julien
Build a squad without the pay pressure
If you like the idea of collecting footballers but want a game where skill carries the match, try Vladers. You open packs to collect fictional footballers from original clubs, build a four-card squad (a goalkeeper and three outfield players), choose the formation that sets their roles and play in real time. Collections are organized into seasons, with rarity tiers from Rookie to Legend, including rare Full Art cards. Modes include Vladers League with live PvP, Weekly Clash, Story Mode, Season and Cup, Friend Challenges and Away Missions. The game is available in English, French and Spanish.
New to the format? Our deck-building tips show how to choose a squad, and our overview of mobile collection games explains what to look for in the genre. If you want more on football-themed options, see our look at soccer card games.
FAQ
Are football card packs gambling?
It depends on the country and the game. Researchers describe paid loot boxes as gambling-like because you pay for a random reward of unknown value, and some countries enforce gambling law against them. Others rely on ratings, warnings or self-regulation, so the legal answer is not the same everywhere.
Are physical football card packs different from digital ones?
They share the random reveal, and advisers to the UK Gambling Commission note the similarity. The difference is presentation and access: digital packs use stronger audiovisual effects, and online stores can let spending continue with very little friction. Physical packs usually also have items you can resell, which raises its own questions.
Do you have to pay to win in a football card game?
Not necessarily. In one study of FIFA Ultimate Team players, playing time predicted achievement more strongly than spending, although spending did improve rankings. How much money matters depends on the game’s design, so test it with starter cards first.
How can I tell if a game has loot boxes?
Check the store page and rating label, look for any pack or random reward that you buy with real money or purchasable currency, and see whether odds are shown. Different countries label this differently, so read the details rather than relying on one icon.
Is Vladers a loot box game?
You open packs to collect cards, but you open them with coins earned by playing, and coins are not sold. The Pack Shop shows each pack’s drop rates, and cards cannot be sold for money. Rewarded ads are optional, and so is the Boost subscription, which removes ads and adds bonus coins.
Sources
- Loot Box State of Play 2023: Law, Regulation, Policy, and Enforcement Around the World
- Stanford Law School: Loot Box State of Play 2023
- European Parliament: Loot boxes in online games and their effect on consumers
- UK Gambling Commission: Lootboxes advice from ABSG
- Amano and Simonov: What Makes Players Pay?
- Play or pay to win: Loot boxes and gaming disorder in FIFA Ultimate Team
- GambleAware: Lifting the Lid on Loot-Boxes
- Siuda and Johnson: Microtransaction politics in FIFA Ultimate Team