EA compares loot boxes to children\u2019s toys \u2013 \u201cthey\u2019re ethical and enjoyable\u201d Gaming giant Electronic Arts has been embroiled in a gambling controversy over the past few months due to its loot box implementation in its games. Now, the company insists that the boxes are like children\u2019s toys \u2013 completely \u201cethical\u201d and \u201cenjoyable.\u201d The \u2018are loot boxes a form of gambling?\u2019 debate has been taking centre stage for a few months now, with many taking issue with how big companies like EA are implementing the boxes in their games by locking content behind a paywall. One of the biggest concerns is that some people, especially younger players, could find addictive qualities in the systems, turning what should be a simple pay-to-play loot box into a gambling nightmare. During a spoken evidence session with the UK Parliament\u2019s Digital, Culture, Media, and Sport Committee on June 19, EA compared their loot boxes to children\u2019s toys. Loot boxes are \u201cethical\u201d and \u201cenjoyable\u201d When asked whether she considers loot boxes to be an ethical feature of EA\u2019s games, the company\u2019s VP of legal and govenment affairs Kerry Hopkins detailed how the company doesn\u2019t call loot boxes by that name, and instead refers to them as \u201csurprise mechanics.\u201d \u201cIf you go to a store that sells a lot of toys, and you do a search for \u2018surprise toys\u2019, what you\u2019ll find is that this something that people enjoy.\u201d Hopkins states, as she goes future into EA\u2019s views. \u201cPeople enjoy surprises. And so, it\u2019s been something that\u2019s been a part of toys for years, whether it\u2019s Kinder Eggs, or Hatchimals, or LOL Surprise.\u201d \u201cWe do think the way that we have implemented these kinds of mechanics \u2013 and FIFA of course is our big one, our FIFA Ultimate Team and our packs \u2013 is actually quite ethical and quite fun, quite enjoyable to people.\u201d The issue people have isn\u2019t whether it\u2019s enjoyable though, it\u2019s whether it can lead to gambling and whether it spikes addictive qualities in its participants, especially those of a younger age. But on the other hand, we all bought blind-packed Pok\u00e9mon cards as kids with no harm done. EA’s VP of legal and government affairs refuses to use the term ‘lootboxes’ in favor of ‘surprise mechanics’, compares them to Kinder Eggs, says they are not gambling and ‘quite ethical’https:\/\/t.co\/IbRqMwvJea pic.twitter.com\/bJ8t3Fkib6 \u2014 Nibel (@Nibellion) June 19, 2019 People had mixed responses to EA\u2019s comments Obviously something like this is bound to spark debate in the community, and a lot of people have weighed in on EA\u2019s views on loot boxes. \u201cEA comparing the push of loot boxes and gambling to children to a fucking kinder egg. I\u2019ve seen it all.\u201d YouTuber JCC tweeted. EA comparing the push of loot boxes and gambling to children to a fucking kinder egg I\u2019ve seen it all https:\/\/t.co\/kxgiyD5PqC \u2014 JCC | Pro Clubs :earth_africa: (@WoJCC) June 20, 2019 \u201cMy son loves the Thomas the Train packs. But all the trains inside are of equal value. There is no magical golden train that is rare and worth more than others. That\u2019s where EA misses the point. It\u2019s straight up gambling.\u201d one concerned parent replied. My son loves the Thomas the Train packs. But all the trains inside are of equal value. There is no magical golden train that is rare and worth more than others. That\u2019s where EA misses the point. It\u2019s straight up gambling \u2014 Sneed (@SneedGaming) June 20, 2019 Some did agree with the company\u2019s views though, blaming the people who pay money for loot boxes in the first place, tweeting: \u201cif your not intelligent enough to know the risks, you shouldn\u2019t be buying the packs lol.\u201d One person even blamed influencers and YouTubers for advertising the boxes in videos, saying, \u201cDon\u2019t blame people who make them. Blame the people who buy it. If they cared enough, the would\u2019ve stopped buying them. This bunch of idiots who keep buying them like they\u2019re candies, and put them on YouTube to attract even more stupid people. What a great fun!\u201d if your not intelligent enough to know the risks, you shouldn\u2019t be buying the packs lol. \u2014 FUT peasant (@ITakeAnkles1) June 20, 2019 Don’t blame people who make them. Blame the people who buy it. If they cared enough, the would’ve stopped buying them. This bunch of idiots who keep buying them like they’re candies, and put them on YouTube to attract even more stupid people. What a great fun! \u2014 Saketh Chowdary (@sparkseekr) June 20, 2019 You can expect this loot box debacle to be a hot topic for months to come, since many people have divided opinions on the subject, and many countries are currently investigating its \u2018addictive\u2019 qualities.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
EA compares loot boxes to children\u2019s toys \u2013 \u201cthey\u2019re ethical and enjoyable\u201d Gaming giant Electronic Arts has been embroiled in a gambling controversy over the past few months due to its loot box implementation in its games. Now, the company insists that the boxes are like children\u2019s toys \u2013 completely \u201cethical\u201d and \u201cenjoyable.\u201d The \u2018are […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-80476","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80476","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=80476"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80476\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=80476"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=80476"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=80476"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}