EA Sports FC
The football game that used to be FIFA: PEGI 3 on the box, card packs for real money inside.
A match has a fixed length and a natural end, so agreeing on a number of matches works here. What eats the evenings isn't the matches, it's the Ultimate Team menus: objectives, packs and the market. Count the menu time into the agreement.
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The most important things to know
EA Sports FC is the football game that used to be FIFA, and for many kids the gateway into gaming: real teams, real players and matches against friends on the sofa or online. In the Norwegian Media Authority's survey it's among the games most Norwegian children report playing.
At the heart of it sits Ultimate Team, where you build a dream squad by opening card packs with random contents, packs that can also be bought for real money. The box says PEGI 3 but carries the “paid random items” content label. The rating answers whether the content suits children, not what the game is built to make its money on.
That exact mechanic is thoroughly documented: the Norwegian Consumer Council's Insert Coin report used FIFA as its main example of how games push players towards more time and more money. And PEGI has tightened up: from June 2026, new games selling paid random packs get at least a 16 rating. Today's FC keeps its 3 because it predates the rule.
What's positive about EA Sports FC for your child?
Football is football: FC is play built on something your child already loves, easy to follow even for parents who don't game, and one of the best sofa games there is. Two controllers and a sibling derby is the game at its best.
How can EA Sports FC affect your child negatively?
Ultimate Team is built like a slot machine stuffed with football cards: you don't know what's in the pack until you've paid, the rare cards gleam and glow, and new campaigns with deadlines land week after week.
The pressure is social: a mate's bought squad beats yours, and the free route to the same cards is deliberately long. That's a lot of pressure for a child to carry alone.
Settings you set together
- A child or teen account in EA's family settings: purchases are blocked on child accounts, and teen accounts start with a spending limit of zero until you change it.
- A purchase block or PIN on the console as well, where the card is actually stored.
- Agree on FC Points before the first season: ideally none, and never to chase one particular card.
Sources
- PEGI: EA Sports FC, aldersgrense 3 år med «paid random items» ↗
- EA Help: How parental controls affect child accounts ↗
- Forbrukerrådet (2022): Insert Coin, how the gaming industry exploits consumers using loot boxes ↗
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