There is some concern over the loot box mechanic in video games. This is because some have likened the feature to gambling, where players pay real-life money to purchase a loot box without knowing what is inside of it, which some could consider to be a gamble. Some companies do not agree with this assessment, and EA is one of them.However, it seems that not only has EA disagreed with the gambling assessment, but the company has gone one step further by defending it and calling it a “surprise mechanic”. This is according to Kerry Hopkins, EA’s VP of legal and government affairs who was quoted as saying that during a session with the UK Parliament’s Digital, Culture, Media, and Sport Committee.
According to Hopkins, “We do agree with the UK gambling commission, the Australian gambling commission, and many other gambling commissions that they aren’t gambling, and we also disagree that there’s evidence that shows it leads to gambling. Instead we think it’s like many other products that people enjoy in a healthy way, and like the element of surprise.”
Hopkins goes on to state that EA’s implementation of loot boxes is both “fun” and “ethical” and “enjoyable to people”. We’re not sure if everyone will agree with this definition of loot boxes, but unfortunately, microtransactions with loot boxes has proven to be a very popular form of monetization, and one that we do not expect to see go away anytime soon.