I know there have been loot box controversies in the past... are they gambling? Are they not? I first started noticing it with Counter Strike: Global Offensive. Man... some people put a lot of money into the keys to open the cases. And Steam also took a hefty fee once you tried to sell those said items if you were lucky enough to get a valuable one. At one point, I had found a $69-89 AK... Which is all worthless now I believe. There were pending legal issues on this game ij certain countries if I remember right.
I noticed this article:
DUTCH JUDGE RULES THAT EA SHOULD BE FINED €500K EVERY WEEK UNTIL IT REMOVES FIFA LOOT BOXES - videogameschronicle.com (https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/dutch-judge-rules-that-ea-should-be-fined-e250k-every-week-until-it-removes-fifa-loot-boxes/amp/)
Holy crap that's a hefty fine. Other games ran into some of the same issues ... but I can see where the issues come in. In a way it is gambling... Which the odds on some of those items are horrible. Interesting FIFA has loot boxes.
Thoughts, comments, post it up!
I'm sure most people still characterize video games as a hobby / recreation dominated by minors. When video game companies build in a mechanic that's essentially gambling there's bound to be consequences, just because of the assumed audience.
I never thought of loot boxes as being a problem like that. I had a Marvel Loot box sub for a while. It was horrendous trying to get unsubscribed. The loot boxes were never on time. And they would not cancel the sub. I finally had to get rid of the card used to make payment. That ended my time with loot boxes and it left a bitter taste in my mouth. But considering them gambling, that thought never occurred to me.