The UK's Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has upheld complaints against three major gaming studios over their failure to disclose the presence of loot boxes in ads for their games on social…
March 20, 2024 | 10:08 EDT
The UK gaming industry has introduced a set of 11 new guidelines intended to protect gamers from harm surrounding loot boxes. Trade body UKIE announced the new guidelines via its website earlier…
July 18, 2023 | 08:40 EDT
Andrew Wilkie, an Australian MP, has finally introduced his Australia loot box legislation. I say finally because we reported that Wilkie would propose his Australia loot box legislation back in July…
November 29, 2022 | 09:42 EST
A perceived lack of value in Madden NFL 23 loot boxes has caused streamers to stage a "walkout". Popular Madden NFL 23 streamers and influencers are posting with the hashtag #packstrike on Twitter…
September 23, 2022 | 08:50 EDT
EA has defended its use of FIFA loot boxes, describing the ability to spend real money on them as "fair". The company says that the FIFA Ultimate Team mode and player packs are a beloved part of FIFA…
August 12, 2022 | 12:08 EDT
A new report has claimed that the strict Belgium loot box laws, which effectively prohibit studios from including loot boxes in games, are not being properly enforced. The study goes on to recommend…
August 5, 2022 | 11:04 EDT
EA is to allow players to preview the contents of certain loot boxes in FIFA 22. Preview Packs will let you see what's inside before you pick them up, and they'll be available at launch in the new…
September 20, 2021 | 11:05 EDT
Online life sim Second Life is removing gacha mechanics later this month. Citing changes in the way gacha mechanics are regulated, the devs say they'll give players a grace period, so they won't be…
August 4, 2021 | 10:15 EDT
Australian independent MP Andrew Wilkie has announced that he will be proposing a loot box law that will restrict the microtransactions by requiring all games with loot boxes to be rated 18+ along…
July 13, 2021 | 05:48 EDT
A leaked internal EA document has revealed that the company intentionally pushes players towards a game mode featuring loot boxes in FIFA 21. This comes at a moment when loot boxes - and EA in…
April 26, 2021 | 09:37 EDT
Niantic is trialling a feature that will allow certain players in Pokemon Go to see a list of Pokemon that might hatch from eggs. The feature isn't being rolled out to everyone, but it's assumed that…
March 12, 2021 | 09:02 EST
The German government has passed a law that means if a game has loot boxes, they must be taken into consideration when that game is being given an age rating. This could be a stumbling block for…
March 5, 2021 | 11:22 EST
Capcom has recently released their 2020 annual report, where they condemned "gacha-like loot boxes" because they want their users to enjoy their games "fairly and safely." Check out Capcom's comments…
January 27, 2021 | 10:28 EST
A new survey commissioned by Greenstone Research has found that over a third of British MPs (Members of Parliament) want greater UK game regulation. Almost two-thirds of MPs also showed concern about…
December 10, 2020 | 11:02 EST
The District Court of The Hague has ruled that EA violated the Netherlands' Gambling Act through its use of "Packs" in FIFA. This ruling effectively means the Netherlands has classified loot boxes as…
October 29, 2020 | 10:37 EDT
Gaming giant Electronic Arts, better known as EA, is being sued in Canada. The lawsuit is being brought against the publisher over the presence and perceived prevalence of loot boxes in many of its…
October 21, 2020 | 08:08 EDT
Update NBA 2k21's base edition has returned to Steam in all regions, most explictly Belgium and Netherlands where it had been unavailable previously. Valve told TechRaptor the issue was resolved,…
September 7, 2020 | 02:01 EDT
A class-action lawsuit has been undertaken targeting the loot boxes in Brawl Stars and Clash Royale; this Supercell loot box lawsuit claims that the microtransaction model in both games violates…
August 14, 2020 | 04:33 EDT
A "Staff Perspective Paper" based on the recent FTC loot box workshop has been released, neatly summarizing the scope of the problem with this form of microtransactions. If you're hoping for…
August 14, 2020 | 03:40 EDT
The UK House of Lords has urged the government to reclassify loot boxes as gambling. A new report published by the Select Committee says the government "must act immediately" in order to bring loot…
July 2, 2020 | 08:40 EDT
The UK's DCMS - Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport - could soon reclassify loot boxes in video games as gambling. UK news platform The Guardian reports that the DCMS will soon launch…
June 8, 2020 | 10:00 EDT
A Non-Linear Battle Pass patent has just been granted to Electronic Arts, raising interest in what EA plans with the monetization model in the future. If you've somehow been living under a…
March 9, 2020 | 03:34 EDT
During 2019's Tokyo Game Show, Capcom revealed Resident Evil: Resistance. Described as an "asymmetric online five-person multiplayer," it pits four players against one Mastermind. Taking the role of…
March 6, 2020 | 09:06 EST
Australian loot box regulation may be coming soon after a parliamentary committee finalized a report on the matter. An Australian parliamentary committee has recommended that the…
March 6, 2020 | 01:10 EST
PAYDAY 2 drills will soon be a thing of the past, putting an end to the game's "Crate & key" microtransaction system. OVERKILL made a Steam Community announcement that detailed the upcoming…
February 21, 2020 | 02:29 EST
There was a time in the gaming industry where you used to pay for a video game and its price granted you access to the full experience. With time, developers and publishers started looking for new…
February 17, 2020 | 12:00 EST
Of all the things that have shaped the world of gaming, none have had a greater impact than post-release monetization. The mere existence of such a concept has made it so that a game’s quality is no…
December 17, 2019 | 11:30 EST
The UK Children's Commissioner has recently come out with a new report that calls for the games industry to ban all non-cosmetic in-game purchases. Along with the ban recommendation the…
October 26, 2019 | 05:24 EDT
Today Activision announced an entirely new plan for post-launch support for upcoming shooter Call of Duty: Modern Warfare. First, the publisher confirmed in a blog post that there will be no loot…
October 17, 2019 | 03:39 EDT
Back in August, Psyonix revealed its intention to remove loot crates from Rocket League. Now, the developer has released some information about the system that will be replacing Crates. Going forward…
October 2, 2019 | 05:58 EDT
The Department for Digital, Culture, Media, & Sport Committee has recommended that UK loot box regulations are established to bring the microtransactions under the purview of gambling laws. While…
September 12, 2019 | 01:45 EDT
According to an interview between USgamer and Yakuza series producer Daisuke Sato, the game Yakuza Online will not be released in the west due to western taste issues with the game's gacha mechanics…
August 27, 2019 | 02:19 EDT
The United States' Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is holding an ongoing workshop today regarding loot boxes in video games. Today, we found out that the three major game console creators Sony,…
August 7, 2019 | 01:45 EDT
Rocket League will no longer have real money loot crates available for purchase, later this year. The Rocket League loot boxes were introduced in September 2016, and have included cosmetics players…
August 6, 2019 | 05:09 EDT
Overwatch loot box revenue and in-game purchases have crossed the $1 billion mark in the fourth year of the game's release. While Blizzard Entertainment's sci-fi first-person shooter is a premium…
July 25, 2019 | 11:34 EDT
A recent study published in the Royal Society Open Science warns of a strong link between loot box spending and problem gambling in minors. The paper, titled "Adolescents and loot boxes: links with…
July 1, 2019 | 05:20 EDT
Earlier last month, United States Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) pledged to introduce legislation to combat microtransactions in games that were marketed to children. Senator Hawley soon followed through…
June 25, 2019 | 02:00 EDT
On Wednesday, representatives from Epic Games and EA met with the United Kingdom Parliament's Digital, Culture, Media, and Sports Committee to speak on the topic of immersive and addictive…
June 20, 2019 | 08:30 EDT
United States Senator Josh Hawley's (R-MO) Loot Box Ban Bill (which was announced earlier this month) has been filed in a show of bipartisan support. Senators Ed Markey (D-MA) and Richard Blumenthal…
May 24, 2019 | 06:00 EDT
Fire Emblem Heroes and Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp are undeniably financial powerhouses for Nintendo. With new legislation in Belgium cracking down on loot boxes, these two games will become…
May 21, 2019 | 03:10 EDT
In the past week or so we've seen a lot of discussion surrounding the topic of loot boxes, particularly after the loot box ban bill that will be introduced by the United States Senator Josh Hawley.…
May 15, 2019 | 09:20 EDT
United States Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) will be introducing a loot box ban bill in the near future. The Senator has become well-known for criticizing tech companies like Google and Facebook and he…
May 8, 2019 | 01:40 EDT
Rocket League loot boxes can no longer be opened in Belgium and The Netherlands in a continuation of the war between government regulation of in-game microtransactions and game developers. The most…
April 18, 2019 | 10:50 EDT
A long-promised FTC workshop on loot boxes has been announced and will be taking place in August 2019. This FTC loot box workshop will seek to tackle issues surrounding microtransactions and loot…
April 8, 2019 | 10:20 EDT
Blizzard will be removing loot boxes from its MOBA Heroes of the Storm. The change is currently being tested on the game's PTR (public test realm) with a view to being fully implemented in the game's…
March 21, 2019 | 09:47 EDT
Epic Games, creators of Fortnite and current video game boogeyman, are being sued for the old loot box system used in Fornite's save the world mode. Back in July 2017 Fortnite: Save the World was…
March 4, 2019 | 01:15 EST
After a slew of negative press over the past few years, loot boxes are not very well liked at the moment. The Belgian Gaming Commission recommended prosecution for some game companies over the loot…
February 26, 2019 | 03:00 EST
After a protracted and convoluted rollout, including multiple in-game stores, tiered progressions, and microtransactions, the last of Black Ops 4's monetization is here. The final piece of the puzzle…
February 20, 2019 | 10:47 EST