Star Wars Battlefront 2 intensified the debate surrounding loot boxes, with the game’s apparent “pay to win” system causing the gaming community to go up in arms over EA’s predatory microtransactions. In the midst of this controversy, the push to officially classify loot boxes as gambling has increased, with a French senator even writing to its gambling commission in order to convince them to reevaluate their stance on the in-game items.
While there is certainly an element of risk involved with randomized loot boxes, the lack of monetary value in their rewards has thus far seen them steer clear of being reclassified as gambling, with it looking unlikely that authoritative bodies will put too much of a spotlight upon them in the near future. However, with the reaction to Battlefront 2’s microtransactions causing the story to be picked up by mass media such as CNN, it could well have wider ramifications on the gaming industry and how it approaches loot boxes.
Also: GR Votes: How Should Loot Boxes Be Handled?
With that being said, we thought we’d ask the GameRevolution community how they would like loot boxes to be handled. Should gambling bodies reevaluate them and treat them as forms of gambling? Or should they continue on as they are, albeit not as pernicious as they are in Battlefront 2? Let us know in the comments section below!
