Mobile gaming growing so large had quickly changed the face of gaming as the developers were forced to find a way to monetize options that have typically been delivered for free at a very low cost – these microtransactions have grown across the gaming industry as a whole, and the introduction was found through other titles through platforms such as loot boxes which have become a wide spread issue – but are these loot box mechanics similar to those found in casinos, or a different thing entirely?
Much of the argument comes around the gambling styled approach that many of these loot box systems take – many have even started to replicate the sound and visual that are delivered by online slot machines with some links that the usage has led to an increase in gambling amongst a younger audience, with similar fears that the growth of esports betting at esportsbetting.site and others have helped to encourage the same, but actions have been taken to slow this growth.
One of the most recent changes has been toward popular games developer EA, and their football title of FIFA, and not the first time they have come under scrutiny for these mechanics – last year there had been nods toward the UK looking to ban the practice but there had been less movement than many had hoped initially, and the latest coming as a Dutch judge ruled that EA should be paying €500,000 per week until it disables the loot box system as it is in violation of gambling rules. Whilst EA would go on to suggest that there is no real value outside of the game, it seemed little to quiet the argument against the platform itself.
(Image from goalfifa.com)
Whilst this immediate change would only have an impact on the Dutch market for this particular game, it may be enough to push others in larger markets to follow too – other countries have already started calls to identify where the real issues lie, and as support continues to drum up for the removal of these boxes it seems that change may be coming quicker than some had hoped, but the implementation of where change will happen still remains to be the real question.
This isn’t the time that change had tried to be implemented as last time the big adjustment was that these platforms had to show the odds of winning which had previously been hidden, and with some such as popular esports title Counter-Strike having to change the animation for opening these loot boxes, but thus far little has been changed to outright remove the option, which still remains as something unknown if even possible with how deeply ingrained they have become across all of the platforms.