Behind the jaunty art designs and goofy voice quips of Hearthstone lies another headache-in-the-making for Blizzard Entertainment. Polygon reports that the studio is getting slapped with another class action lawsuit alleging that the game’s store “deceives players, particularly minors” into making ill-informed purchases that have no refund policy attached.
The lawsuit was filed by parents of an Arizona child who purchased over $300 worth of card decks from the game without the parents knowing. According to the suit, the child didn’t understand that the card packs gave out randomized results and was not informed about the odds of receiving desired cards.
The parents hope to take Blizzard to task for not disclosing the odds of the card packs, offering a refund for purchases made by minors, and inadequate parental controls. The studio is disputing the lawsuit and has filed to move it to a higher court.
Source: Polygon
Activision-Blizzard is considered a controversial gaming company owing to a long string of scandals over the last few years, including the Blitzchung boycott, mass layoffs, labor disputes, and executive pay fiasco. In 2021, the company was sued by California for fostering a work environment rife with sexual harassment and discrimination, the disastrous corporate response to which compounded Blizzard’s ongoing pipeline issues and the widespread perception that its online games are in decline. Multiple state and federal agencies are investigating the company as employees strike and call for Bobby Kotick’s resignation. As of 2022, the company is being acquired by no less than Microsoft.
