FIFA 19 Will Disclose Ultimate Team Pack Odds

Getting an in-form Mohammad Salah or Wilfred Zaha is like winning bingo, the lottery, and getting a first row parking spot all in one day.

And while everyone knows certain cards come with a reputation of incredible scarcity, EA has never disclosed any of the actual odds you'll win anything good when you open one of its card packs in Ultimate Team. But that could be changing.

Speaking to Eurogamer, Electronic Arts -- commonly referred to as EA -- has revealed that starting with FIFA 19, it will disclose the odds on its Ultimate Team packs.

"For Ultimate Team, when you buy a pack you know what you are getting," said Daryl Holt, EA Sports vice president and COO. "You are getting a certain number of assets that are guaranteed - and we're going to start to do pack odds disclosures that'll show you the odds of what you might get.

"That'll be in our product year 19 titles. So, at least that aspect of understanding what the chances are of getting X, Y and Z card."

Unfortunately, Holt doesn't provide any further details on how the disclosure feature will work, and what exactly will be divulged by the odds. Eurogamer notes that EA declined to follow-up for a comment, which seems to suggest Holt let the cat slip out of the bag a bit prematurely.

If you play FIFA 18 and have dabbled in Ultimate Team, you will know the card packs already provide a general idea of what you will get upon purchase, as in a certain amount of certain rarity, etc. But if you've opened up any card pack, you will know it is usually full of underwhelming disappointment, and thus more specific details on odds could go a long way in being more transparent.

Better card pack transparency has been a feature FIFA fans have been calling for basically since the featured was introduced to the series and took it by storm. That said, it's one of EA's biggest money-makers, so it's understandable why they have been gun shy to tweak it in any considerable fashion, especially any way that might reduce its profits.

Regardless of what will come of the changes, one thing seems for certain, the reason we are getting anything is because of the Star Wars Battlefront fiasco and the even bigger controversy around loot boxes it spawned.

Since the release of FIFA 18, loot boxes have been declared illegal in Belgium and the Netherlands, with many other governments -- such as the United States federal and state governments -- also taking a look at the monetization model, and suggesting if the industry doesn't do something about it internally, external correction may be coming.