Loot Boxes are taking over the gaming industry and countries are now debating on whether or not this is a form of gambling. One of these countries is the United States. This came after Hawaii State representatives Chris Lee and Sean Quinlan uploaded a video announcing action against the practices of Electronic Arts and other countries that incorporate loot boxes in their games.
In an interview with Glixel, Quinlan addressed a response to organizations such as the ESRB and ESA saying that loot boxes do not fit the legal definition of gambling. Quinlan stated..
I think the mechanism is so close to gambling, when we talk about psychology and the way addiction and reward works, I think whether or not it means the strict definition of gambling, it’s close enough and the impact is close enough.
Quinlan even went on to say that he strongly believes that Electronic Arts will attempt to do this again in hopes that gamers will just move on. Sean is also an avid gamer and has taken the issue personally in part due to watching some of his favorite studios be shut down by EA. Stating..
This is the straw that broke the camel’s back. EA and Disney are two of the largest companies not just in America, but the world and Star Wars is such a beloved property. That it is being used for evil is especially upsetting.
For this particular game, I think EA is between a rock and a hard place, but we as consumers have a short memory. I’m sure they will try something like this very soon. As someone who has watched EA develop over the years and consume some of my favorite studios and destroy so many franchises, I don’t think this is going away. And I’m definitely going to stick to this. It’s an important issue for me.
