"The (Belgium) Gambling Commission will open an investigation into the new video game Star Wars: Battlefront 2. In this game you can pay to improve your character or vehicle. Only this mechanism based on a risk: you know in advance because not what you get. Also another popular game Overwatch is investigated."
I got the news from following link:
https://nieuws.vtm.be/binnenland/onderzoek-naar-nieuw-star-wars-spel
What do you make of this news?
If you went to a market and some stall vendor said 'give me $10 and ill give you the contents of this box, but you can't look in the fox first', you'd laugh at them and tell them to get lost. Yet people accept loot crates from games companies???? Loot crates are worse than gambling at a casino. At least at a casino you know what the odds are of winning when you place the bet. With loot crates you jhave no idea at all. Gambling in casinos is regulated, loot crates are not. This is particularly immoral if you consider that children are inticed into this activity.
I believe the UK government are looking into loot crates too: https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2017/10/16/loot-box-questions-in-uk-parliament/
EA should take the moral lead and stop using them in favor of normal mircotransaction where you know what your getting for youre money. They will look like the scum of the earth to everyone when this activity gets banned and it is world news and not just news amongst gamers. Do they really want that PR mess??
The only reason games companies favor loot boxes over normal get what you pay for microtransactions is because they can give less and take more money. Otherwise you'd just give people what they pay for, right? This is a blatent attempt to rip off thier own loyal customers.
Loot boxes are gambling. They will never come under online gambling regulation due to the fact that kids are involved and kids can not be involved in gambling under any government. Hence it is only a matter of time before this activity as a whole is banned. Government just need to become aware of it and that is now starting to happen.
Why dont EA do the moral thing and stop selling loot boxes now? The only reason I can think of is because they are trying to make as much money from it as possible before it is banned. A bit like the way some shops and online stores sell new designer drugs before they get covered by governmental laws that ban them.
