Loot boxes, long a source of frustration and addiction for some gamers, have become an increasingly problematic system for publishers and developers as well. Despite earning billions of dollars collectively for the games which include them, loot boxes are a font of anger and litigation as more public pressure mounts against the mechanics, which many
Dutch outlets including Metro and Nieuwsblad reported earlier today that the Belgian Gaming Commission may be pursuing legal action against some game companies over their refusal to follow the law.
The senior producer of NBA 2K19 believes that microtransactions are “an unfortunate reality of modern gaming.” Rob Jones discussed the recent changes to loot boxes and gambling mechanics in games, as well as the plans the company has for the future of their games.
In a recent forum announcement, Blizzard has revealed that they’ve made some major changes to Overwatch and Heroes of the Storm. These games will no longer feature loot boxes in certain countries thanks to ongoing legislative pressure over gambling mechanics. The two countries in particular, Belgium and the Netherlands, made regulatory pressure and impending legal
Anyone who wasn’t around EVE Online in 2016 might not remember this, but there was a major kerfuffle in the game’s community over a popular gambling website that used the in-game currency, ISK, and it eventually got way out of control. The problem eventually got so impossible to ignore within the community, that the assumed
France may soon take action against loot boxes, and they’re not alone. An analysis of the French report courtesy of media law associate Sebastian Schwiddessen has helped push the issue of loot boxes and gambling in video games back to the forefront. The ARJEL’s response is pushing for a vote on what course of action
OK, so that headline is a bit of an exaggeration, loot boxes are still in Valve games like Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and DOTA 2, but because of increasing legislative pressure from Dutch officials, Valve pulled access to loot boxes in The Netherlands. Dutch players in these games will get a notice explaining the decision when
Even though other countries like the US and UK have trouble classifying loot boxes, that doesn’t appear to be an issue in Belgium. The investigation looked at Star Wars Battlefront 2, FIFA 18, Overwatch and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, finding only that Battlefront 2 weren’t in violation because that title had removed loot boxes. The justification
The Dutch Gaming Authority, the body responsible for administering gambling and games of chance in the Netherlands, has finished an investigation into loot boxes in video games. And citing that investigation, the body has ruled that multiple games may be in violation of gambling and related rules within the country. Interested readers can find an
Some of you may remember that the ESRB infamously said that video game loot boxes are no different to booster packs in collectible card games. They made that distinction to justify no labeling of loot boxes in games they rated. Now, the ESRB is apparently backpedaling slightly and allowing games to be classified for “in-game
According to a Rolling Stone report, during the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee hearing, US Senator Maggie Hassan educated committee members on the dangers of loot boxes and also issued a letter to the ESRB President Patricia Vance. Even though the ESRB has previously said they have no issue with loot boxes, this new wave
Hawaii is one of the first US states to make moves against loot boxes and gambling in gaming. Rep. Chris Lee has led an action that introduced multiple bills to the state legislature. The bills tackle the problem on multiple fronts. First of all, they propose prohibiting the sale of a game to anyone under
In a segment on Swedish Radio P3 News this morning talking about FIFA Ultimate Team, Swedish minister for public administration Ardalan Shekarabi hinted that loot boxes are being considered as gambling in Sweden. This comes in the same week as German regulators begin considerations on how to classify loot boxes. Sweden is working on regulations that
At this point, everyone has an opinion on loot boxes and whether they are good or bad for gamers and the industry as a whole. Efforts to force the issue and to suss out a legal stance on loot boxes have been mixed; but if Germany does decide to take action, it could have serious
The loot box disaster that has imploded all over the gaming scene these last few months just got more complicated. New Zealand’s Gambling Compliance office of its Department of Internal Affairs has stated its position on the matter. In a letter to Gamasutra, the department has stated that loot boxes “do not meet the definition of gambling”.
Democrat representative Chris Lee raised his concerns over the Star Wars Battlefront 2 loot boxes on 22 November and things are progressing. In a new video update from Chris Lee he talks through the process of drafting loot box legislation. Chris Lee has posted a document which he wants gamers or concerned parents to send to governing
Take-Two president Karl Slatoff was on-hand to talk about the publisher’s work and touched on the latest loot box controversy sparked by Star Wars Battlefront 2. Unsurprisingly, Slatoff sits firmly in the same camp as ESA/ESRB which does not deem loot boxes to be gambling. “The whole gambling regulator thing, we don’t view that sort of
The Star Wars Battlefront 2 drama has wiped out billions of dollars. Well OK, not directly, but close. According to CNBC, $3.1 billion of shareholder value has been wiped with EA’s stock having dropped 8.5% in the past month. With sales of the game lower than expected, Analysts have become increasingly concerned. Writing to his
UPDATE: A recent Forbes article has done the legwork on the NCGP. Turns out that suspicions about the groups membership and efficacy were seemingly well-placed. One of the main personalities behind the group is seemingly a 17 year-old with little game industry ties. The NCGP also had no formal tax filings until Tran filed them
As loot boxes continue to come under scrutiny from various legal bodies, a member of the Victorian Commission for Gambling and Liquor Regulation (VCGLR) in Australia has stated that – at least in Victoria – loot boxes are considered a form of gambling. With both Belgium and the Netherlands both making efforts to investigate gambling
The discussion on loot boxes continues this week as multiple nations weigh in on the issue. Not only have both Belgium and The Netherlands launched official investigations into the matter, legislators in the US state of Hawaii have announced intent to address the problem of loot boxes. Star Wars Battlefront 2 made headlines when it
As originally reported by VTM (via Gamasutra), the general director of the the Belgian Gaming Commission, Peter Naessens, told the local news outlet the commission is investigating whether the loot box mechanisms used in Battlefront 2 and Overwatch should be branded as gambling. The raging debate over loot boxes, and whether they should be considered
Earlier this month, an effort to get video game lootboxes classified as gambling resulted in an online petition and questions being posed to the British parliament. And in a somewhat strange turn of events, Parliamentary Under-Secretary for the Department of Digital, Culture, Media, and Sport Tracey Crouch has issued a generic statement in response. The
Daniel Zeichner, Labour MP for Cambridge, has submitted two questions with regards to loot boxes and whether they can be deemed as gambling Ove the last several months, a debate has been raging over loot boxes. Not over whether the odds were fair, but whether the mechanics were manipulative enough to be considered gambling. The
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