Video game company EA sports is allegedly involved in a virtual loot box misconduct. An insider from EA sports Burnaby leaked privileged and confidential documents stating that EA sports is leading people to purchase in-game virtual loot boxes. Virtual loot boxes are boxes you can buy in game that will reward you with good or not so good items. These loot boxes can also be related to gambling due to the uncertainty the player faces in whether or not they will get their money’s worth.
Many people have spoken about their gambling addictions caused by in game loot boxes, including 22 year old Jonathan Peniket who bought loot boxes in order to cope with his unhappy life. Many people including the executive director of the U.S National Council on Problem Gaming, Keith Whyte have related loot boxes to slot machines in the way they function.
Insider says that people are able to earn loot boxes through playing the game but players will quickly realize it takes too long. David Zendle a gaming researcher and computer science lecturer at the University of York said in order to figure out how people are getting sucked into gambling from these loot boxes we need companies to be more transparent with the data they collect. He then goes on to ask “who are they(the top players)? How much are they spending? There are the basic questions we can’t answer because the industry is not sharing this data.”
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