It was actually an Electronic Arts game that stirred the ongoing debate over the nature of loot boxes and whether these constituted a form of gambling. EA launched the latest installment of the Star Wars: Battlefront series last fall. The game -Star Wars Battlefront II-, immediately found itself at the center of a bitter controversy over the arbitrary contents of its loot boxes.
The game publisher pulled those from its newest Star Wars game following the negative publicity surrounding the game’s release.
A number of gambling regulators, including those of the Netherlands and Belgium, launched probes into loot boxes and whether buying them represented gambling. Generally speaking, the boxes contain different items that can be of little value to a player or can help them boost their performance within the game.
Regulators have expressed concerns that the fact players become aware of a loot box’s contents only after it has been purchased could represent a form of gambling. In addition, it seems that players are not properly informed about the odds of having one valuable object or another in their boxes, which has further intensified the debate over the nature of the controversial items.
Wilson commented that they firmly believe loot boxes should not be considered gambling. The executive went on that players are always assigned a specified number of items per box and that EA does not authorize the cash-out or sale of items contained in the boxes or virtual currency for real money.
Source: GMB / Casino News Daily
