Electronic Arts have been confronted with a lawsuit in America by FIFA gamers over the issue of scripting.

The lawsuit, Zajonc vs. Electronic Arts, has been filed in California, with the gamers claiming that technologies are embedded within the game’s creation to entice gamers to use purchases in-game, such as Ultimate Team packs.

The three gamers involved in the lawsuit – Jason Zajonc, Pranko Lozano and Daniel Williams – claim in their case of EA using “deceptive practices” to encourage purchases in the latest FIFA instalment.

Purchases, otherwise known as micro-transactions, have reached a record high for EA, with the company making nearly $1billion through in-game sales alone since FIFA 21 was released back in September.

The gamers further claim that EA “use artificial intelligence technologies that adjust difficulty dynamically”, otherwise known to the casual gamer as ‘scripting’.

This is suggested to influence the packs that gamers can purchase in the Ultimate Team game mode, with more hope that gamers continue to spend money.

The lawsuit reads, as per comicbook.com: “Unbeknown to most…EA utilises technologies like ‘Dynamic Difficulty Adjustment’ and ‘Adaptive Difficulty’. These technologies use heuristic prediction and intervention to dictate or even influence outcomes, thereby keeping gamers more engaged."

‘Adaptive difficulty’ is an AI technology that is also reported to effect in-play, leading to bad passes and poor shots in order to influence the result.

So, if you have ever thought you should be winning a game, or one of your best players misplaces an easy pass, could this be why?

There is also a suggestion that the technology has been used in several EA games since 2017, which may not look too good for the gaming giants if proven.

EA have since responded to the lawsuit and the accusations, with the FIFA 21 publishers saying: “We believe the claims are baseless and misrepresent our games."

However, this is far from the first time the publishers of the popular gaming series have been accused of wrong-doing. An ‘illegal’ gambling operation accusation in the likes of France, The Netherlands and Canada has resulted in EA facing fines of up to $12million.