gambling
Lost Ark will support 34 more countries at launch – Belgium and The Netherlands aren’t among them
Good news, global MMORPG players: Lost Ark is expanding its global reach beyond North America and Europe.
"To ensure that this beloved game can be...
Malaysia’s mufti calls out lockboxes as gambling, states buying them is not permissible in Islamic religion
To appreciate this story, one has to first understand the concept behind a mufti and performing something that's against the religion of Islam. A...
Congress asks publishers to self-regulate lootboxes via a UK regulation that has nothing to do with lootboxes
There are some Democrats in the US Congress that are hoping to do something about lootboxes in the country. That's good. They even went...
So Netmarble is getting into the social casino gaming business
Our inbox here at MOP gets flooded with three things that are the equivalent of nails-on-a-chalkboard to me: requests for sponsored content, requests for...
Australian MP plans to introduce a bill banning lockbox sales to minors
You may remember back last year that there was some noise made in Australia about banning the sale of video game lootboxes to people...
EA is testing transparent lockboxes in a FIFA game
Remember two years ago when the ESA announced an optional new policy for the US games industry that would theoretically encourage games companies to...
The Soapbox: MMO monetization that complements poor game design makes us all losers
I have a problem: As much as I enjoy games, I can see that many online and multiplayer games are becoming designed more poorly...
EA insists it’s focused on ‘engagement,’ not monetizing FIFA players into gambleboxes
Yesterday, Canadian outlet CBC published a massive Electronic Arts document leaked by a supposed "gaming insider" that seemingly confirms what you already thought about...
New UK research finds opening lootboxes is ‘structurally and psychologically akin’ to gambling
The mountain of research-based evidence against lootboxes has had another leaflet added to the pile. A recent report from researchers at the universities of...
MMO Business Roundup: Stadia’s and Bethsoft’s class-actions, Epic’s lockbox settlement, and CDPR’s DMCA takedowns
Welcome back to another roundup of MMO and MMO-adjacent industry news - in this case, all happy fun lawsuits.
Stadia: Consumers are waging a new...
UK study says over 1 in 10 young gamers go into debt due to lootbox spending habits
The pushback against lockboxes in gaming in the UK continues in spite of the matter not exactly making non-stop headlines. A new study from...
Massively-on-the-Go: Gotta cash’em all in Pokemon Go
In the last few editions of the Massively-on-the-Go column, I've been covering the deluge of events and updates Pokemon Go has received quite suddenly...
Judge enforces a Dutch government order for EA to remove FIFA lockboxes or face over $11M in fines
This has been a long and drawn-out battle, so let us review: Back in 2017 when the outrage against lockboxes was at its highest...
Counterstrike: Global Offensive players in Australia get a year-long ban for betting on themselves
It turns out that professional athletes placing bets on their own performances in games is generally frowned upon in most sports. This is true...
Canadian class action lawsuit argues EA’s lootboxes constitute illegal gambling
Ah, it's a good thing for the companies relying on lockboxes that people have completely forgotten about those this year, isn't it? Turns out...
The Daily Grind: Does gacha have a place in MMO business models?
Just so, so many of my friends are playing Genshin Impact these days -- and not just playing, but gushing over the fun, the...
EA’s advertisement of FIFA lockboxes in a children’s toy catalogue draws mounting criticism
It would appear that Electronic Arts didn't learn from the last time it pulled this kind of nonsense, but apparently there was still fuel...
GDC Summer 2020: Gachapon reward models in (mostly) free-to-play games
Let's be real: Some of the panel titles at GDC Summer 2020 are unintentionally misleading. For example, the "Evolution of Gacha Systems in Mobile...
New UK parliament report recommends regulation of lockboxes as gambling
Remember last month when UK lawmakers started making fresh noise about classifying lockboxes/lootboxes as gambling to protect children following multiple reports and surveys on...
Class action lawsuit alleges Apple promotes gambling via lootboxes through its storefront
Legal moves are being made against the practice of lootbox monetization against one of the largest targets possible. A class action complaint filed with...
