lockboxes
UK government will ‘consider legislation’ unless game companies add parental controls to lootboxes
The UK's Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) has seen enough evidence related to the harm that lootboxes have on children and...
US Senator Ted Cruz and Asmongold could have a meeting over gaming microtransaction legislation
It's said that politics makes for strange bedfellows, and there appears to be no better illustration of that axiom than the potential meeting between...
US advocacy groups call upon Federal Trade Commission to investigate EA over FIFA lockboxes
Hot on the heels of Norway's call for lootbox oversight, a non-profit org in the US is now trying to drum up support for...
18 European countries back a Norwegian government body’s assertion that lootboxes are ‘manipulative’
Clearly, pushback against the lootbox monetization model is not going away, a fact that is once more being brought to light thanks to a...
Belgium and Netherlands reject Diablo Immortal over lockbox gambling concerns
This week's "global launch" of Diablo Immortal already wasn't going to be that global considering that several southeast Asia countries will have to wait...
Neverwinter makes lockboxes ‘transparent’ starting with June’s Dragon Cult box
By this point, players of what are now Gearbox's MMOs are well aware that they're loaded with lockboxes, a state implemented by Perfect World...
Dutch court says EA lockboxes didn’t violate region’s gambling law, reels back €10M fine from 2019
It's been some time since the furor over lockboxes and international gambling laws came to light, so let's review: Gambling authorities from the Netherlands...
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...
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...
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...
The Soapbox: How Magic Legends went wrong with the Dimir Assassin class
Cryptic and Perfect World Entertainment are known for their love of lockboxes as a monetization strategy. Therefore it was not wholly surprising when Magic:...
Not So Massively: Magic Legends is messy, deep, and more of an MMO than you think
I can't remember the last time I struggled so much deciding whether I like a game or not. I'm a fan of ARPGs, and...
Not So Massively: Checking the pulse of Star Wars Battlefront II
As I am someone who is at best lukewarm to the Star Wars franchise, nearly as ambivalent toward shooters, and almost entirely uninterested in...
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...
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...