lootboxes
MMO Business Roundup: Lockboxes, SAG-AFTRA, child safety, and another ABK union rally
Welcome back to another roundup of MMO and MMO-adjacent industry news! It's a bit of good news and bad news this time around, so...
Prices and probabilities for Once Human’s latest lockbox ‘event’ prompt calls for a player boycott
Last week saw survival shooter Once Human put forth its latest update, which Starry Studio said was chiefly focused on the addition of a...
RuneScape says it’s ready to address microtransactions but needs ‘community consultation’
Last month saw RuneScape earn itself an eyebrow raise when developer Jagex asked players a variety of questions about the MMORPG's microtransactions, particularly since...
RuneScape microtransaction survey ponders the potential full removal of lockboxes
RuneScape's Treasure Hunter activity, aka the lockbox portion of its wider monetization scheme, is facing the potential for removal from the game, at least...
MMO Business Roundup: Krafton likes AI, Call of Duty moderation, and German lockbox regulation push
Welcome back to another roundup of MMO and MMO-adjacent industry news. We've got a lot to cover, so let's dive right in.
Krafton pushes AI...
Study finds social media game ads don’t properly disclose the existence of lockboxes and in-game purchases
A recent study conducted by legal expert and lockbox researcher Leon Y. Xiao has been completed and it finds that lockbox disclosures in social...
China’s government drafts new restrictions on gaming time, spending and login rewards, and lockboxes
The Chinese government has decided to once more consider a tightening of the thumbscrews on gaming, as regulators in the country have issued a...
MMO Business Roundup: Lockboxes, Twitch Korea, and the FTC’s latest MS/ABK merger appeal
Welcome back to another roundup of MMO and MMO-adjacent industry news.
The FTC vs. Microsoft and ABK - Surely you didn't think that "signing the...
Here’s how the UK gaming industry says it’ll self-regulate lockboxes
Remember a few years ago before NFT scams took over, when politicians realized they could score some press coverage and campaign donations for talking...
Neverwinter adds a lockbox featuring characters from the 1983 Dungeons and Dragons cartoon
Neverwinter is making something of a good news/bad news deep cut with its latest cash shop offering: a lootbox featuring a pair of characters...
Massively on the Go: Jurassic World Alive plods on five years later, encumbered by over-monetization
Ludia's Jurassic World Alive is still stomping along. It's gotten some features over the years that seem, well, "borrowed" from that Pokemon GPS game, but yeesh,...
Australian parliament proposes ratings changes to games with lootboxes and ‘simulated gambling’
It appears that the Australian parliament is looking to make some moves against games with lockboxes, or at the very least a half-measure: The...
Canadian court rules lockboxes aren’t illegal gambling, ‘deceptive acts’ suit continues
Back in October 2020, we reported on a class action lawsuit filed in Canada against EA that covered over 70 different titles that used...
Austrian court finds FIFA lockboxes violate the country’s gambling laws, orders Sony to issue refunds
The question of whether the lockboxes in the recent run of FIFA soccer titles constitute gambling has been one that many nations around the...
EU Parliament adopts resolution to regulate games industry harms from lockboxes to manipulative design
Call them lockboxes, lootboxes, gambleboxes, or gachapon: The European Parliament has voted overwhelmingly to adopt a resolution "ensuring a safe online environment for online...
Germany’s games ratings board creates new labels with warnings about lootboxes, MTX, and online chat
The physical and digital packaging of video games in Germany is going to have a lot more granular detail thanks to updates being applied...
Australian lawmaker proposes bill that would classify games with lockboxes for adults only
There is at least one lawmaker in Australia who feels very strongly about the matter of gaming lockboxes, apparently. Andrew Wilkie, an independent member...
Singapore creates a government body to regulate lootboxes, citing a blurred line between gambling and gaming
The government of Singapore is becoming another country that's less friendly to the monetization practice of lootboxes thanks to the formation of a new...
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 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...
