In 2017, video game developer and publisher, Electronic Arts opened Pandora’s box with their title, Star Wars Battlefront II. The game went so overboard on microtransactions and loot box purchases that it blew up their deal with Disney. They wanted exclusive Star Wars titles and brought legal scrutiny down upon the entire industry. The “loot box” controversy still resonates today almost ten years later. Now it’s taking shape in the form of a lawsuit being filed by the attorney general of New York State against another video game titan, Valve.
Why New York Says Loot Boxes Are Gambling
New York State Attorney General Letitia James is filing suit against Valve, alleging that the loot boxes seen in games like Team Fortress 2 and Counter-Strike are forms of gambling. Which, that’s not wrong, it does meet a technical definition of the act. If you spend money in return for a potential return that is not guaranteed to have equal or greater value, it’s gambling. The same could be said about trading cards, which incidentally we’re also seeing happening in electronic form as more and more websites are promoting pack openings of all kinds of cards.
The uptick in all this (along with sports betting, betting on any kind of event) could also be part of the reason why the NYS DA is moving forward against Valve. Similar lawsuits have been made against Genshin Impact developer, Cognosphere. And other countries in the EU have been pursuing similar legal tactics. The lawsuit is seeking 3 times the amount of whatever monetary gains Valve has made from these sales. It’s also the kind of lawsuit that seems ready made for settling to get a windfall without seeing it through to trial. Or, at least that’s our interpretation of it.
Are Loot Boxes Harming Young Players?
Attorney General James reportedly is pursuing the lawsuit out of fears of how gambling practices affect young minds. The “Gacha” system is successful for a reason and is the driving force behind a lot of mobile games. Plus if you count the skins and cosmetic marketplace behind some of Valve’s titles. Some eagle-eyed readers at Kotaku have noted though that the lawsuit also contains some oddly out of place language. They are alleging that Valve’s games “glorify violence” and that their games help “fuel the dangerous epidemic of gun violence.” Which they don’t. America does have a gun violence problem, but if games were directly responsible for that, we’d see problems in other countries where those games are played as well. We don’t.
America does also have a worsening gambling problem though. Loot boxes are a part of that. It stimulates the brain in the same way and thrill that gambling for money can do. Think about how you would feel at a slot machine or card table. We’ll provide updates as this lawsuit moves forward.
