gamble
Leaderboard: Does the ESA’s new transparent lockbox policy go far enough?
Last week, just as the FTC's video games monetization abuse investigation got underway, the ESA announced that many of the major and minor games...
Researcher stomps the ‘lockboxes are Kinder Eggs’ defense into paste
Most if not all of us pretty much felt the same way Dr. Daniel King, senior research assistant from the School of Psychology at...
MMO Business Roundup: Video game gambling, toxicity, post-lawsuit reconciliation, and successful UX design
Welcome back to another mish-mash roundup of MMO-business-related happenings that just don't fit in anywhere else. To wit:
On game gambling: Remember the bizarrely bad...
Lawful Neutral: Mr. Krabs’ Wacky Bucks and currency in online games
I used to watch Spongebob religiously. I loved the days when I could put on Nickelodeon and have Spongebob on for hours. One of...
UK’s Gambling Commission considers prosecuting video game companies that facilitate gambling
It sounds as if the UK is preparing for a bit of a crackdown on video game gambling of the third-party kind. According to...
Lawful Neutral: Why Josh Hawley’s lockbox regulation Senate bill is dead-on-arrival
There's a special place in my heart for lootboxes and exploitative monetization, and that place is somewhere below the revulsion I feel for Martin...
EA cuts sale of FIFA currency in Belgium in ongoing lootbox legal conflict
Remember back in 2018 when Belgium cracked down on gambleboxes in video games, zeroing in on Overwatch, FIFA 18, and CSGO and ordering them...
UK parliament committee will investigate addictive tech, lootboxes, and harmful gamification
Given that UK researchers this year found a "relationship between problem gambling and the use of loot boxes" as well as determined that problem...
MMO Business Roundup: Japanese lockboxes, POGO and Square Enix financials, and Prima’s end
"The Good Times Are Over for Japan’s Loot-Box-Style Gaming Bonanza" - that's the brutal headline plonked onto this week's Bloomberg report on Japanese lockboxes....
Ireland signed declaration of concern but won’t regulate lockboxes as gambling
Remember two weeks ago when a bunch of representatives from the Europe and US cosigned a declaration noting concerns over skin-betting and lockboxes at...
UK researchers identify link between lootboxes and problem gambling
Are lockboxes just another form of gambling? That depends on which government entity, scientist, lawyer, or doctor you ask. But maybe the question we...
Washington state senator proposes lockbox gambling investigation in new bill
Hawaiian politicians are getting some company on the lockbox front from a compatriot in Washington state.
State Senator Kevin Ranker has introduced legislation there that...
The Netherlands joins Belgium in investigating lockboxes as games of chance
Earlier this week, we reported on a move by the Belgian Gaming Commission to investigate lockboxes/lootboxes in games like Star Wars Battlefront 2 to...
Overwatch: Hero leaks, lockbox probabilities, and Korean political humor
As Asian countries are cracking down on online games with lockbox gambling, gaming companies are complying with transparency. To wit: Blizzard's Chinese Overwatch website...
Valve denies facilitating gambling to state gambling commission
Earlier this month, the Washington State Gambling Commission ordered Valve to "stop facilitating gambling" and "immediately stop allowing the transfer of virtual weapons known...
CCP outlaws gambling in EVE Online, bans RMT organizations
Changes to EVE Online's EULA coming in November with the launch of Ascension and the free-to-play conversion will effectively outlaw gambling, which has been a...
Tamriel Infinium vs Hyperspace Beacon: Three ways to make lockboxes work better in MMORPGs
Last week, I stirred up a hornet’s nest by bringing up the topic of lockboxes and how I really didn’t mind them in general.
Hyperspace...
The Daily Grind: Should MMO studios disclose the odds of winning lockbox prizes?
Every once in a while in an MMO, the desire to play with numbers grips me, like the time I hand-crafted a thousand drinks in Star...
Final Fantasy XIV unveils more about the Gold Saucer
Final Fantasy XIV patch 2.51 is expected to drop on February 24th, and it's bringing the long-awaited Manderville Gold Saucer as its main attraction....
