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EA reportedly under criminal investigation in Belgium due to FIFA's loot boxes

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Re: EA reportedly under criminal investigation in Belgium due to FIFA's loot boxes

#41

Post by [deleted] »

dtech wrote: post #24
Crpt774 wrote: post #20

Pretty sure Valve haven't actually removed lootboxes, they just show which common reward you will get if you are in Belgium, Rares are still random. When you consider that the above is enough that Valve haven't been touched yet, it just feels like EA are digging their heels for the sake of it. On the other hand, these are the same people who gave us BF2 and have been releasing a near identical game every year since t…

> it just feels like EA are digging their heels for the sake of it. That's exactly it. They are challenging this in court because they don't want to lose their loot boxes by this enforcement spreading to other countries. They could pursue it all the way up to EU supreme court. That would set a binding legal precedent for the EU, hopefully not in favor of EA.

[deleted]

Re: EA reportedly under criminal investigation in Belgium due to FIFA's loot boxes

#42

Post by dx87 »

daemin wrote: post #12
mbel wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Video game publishers have been trying consistently to implement a "less for more" attitude when it comes to their products. Isn't maximizing profits just a natural consequence of having a for-profit business? It's not just evil video game publishers, everybody wants to sell less for more.

The problem is that in their pursuit of profit they are creating slot machines with the actual game on the side. Then they are crippling the game so that you have to use the slot machine to have any sense of fun while playing the game. Therefore there are two choices: Either they get regulated as other slot machine makers around the world, including being taxed as both a slot machine maker and as a slot machine opera…

Which games are you talking about that require you to open loot boxes in order to have fun in the game? The most popular games that I can think of with loot boxes, Hearthstone, Dota 2, Overwatch, CS:GO, PUBG, all either have strictly cosmetic items in the loot boxes, or have ways of getting the loot boxes free through gameplay. Saying that major developers are creating games that require you to buy loot boxes in order to have any fun in the game sounds like unnecessary hyperbole.

Re: EA reportedly under criminal investigation in Belgium due to FIFA's loot boxes

#43

Post by RobLach »

beezischillin wrote: post #4

Video game publishers have been trying consistently to implement a "less for more" attitude when it comes to their products. The whole lootbox trend on a whole was the peak of having their cake and eating it (wanting to "chase whales" like the free to play model but charging full price for the product). The only surprising thing about this is that there hasn't been a lot more push-back a way earlier.

That’s not true at all.

Video Games have been growing with such a strong trajectory that what consumers expect at a bare minimum in a new release is a large increase in risk for a game publisher.

For example Super Mario World was made by less than 20 people and sold for $69.99 at launch in 1990. That’s nearly $140 in today’s dollars.

Now take into account that a modern AAA game has at a minimum a 150 person staff, with the more content heavy games breaching 500 people; if your game is a flop your studio is dead despite having years of successes before. The margins at $60 don’t provide enough cushion so publishers are continuously scrambling for extra revenue they can get away with before consumer backlash.

The current model is very fragile and not entirely sustainable. It exploits the passions of recent graduates by giving them salaries 30-40% below market only because they’re working on games, with the work being not at all different than working on spreadsheet software except for having serious crunch-heavy deadlines. The attrition rate over 5 years is over 70%, which also leads to those who merely didn’t leave instead of the most qualified being in leadership positions which makes any changes to processes very difficult.

Re: EA reportedly under criminal investigation in Belgium due to FIFA's loot boxes

#44

Post by Confiks »

Insanity wrote: post #9

When playing Battlefield 5 beta last weekend, I was actually thinking about this. I'm wondering how they'll approach it in that game. I have a bit of a double feeling about this as a Belgian - on the one hand I think it's a good direction for the industry. We didn't have that crap a decade ago and I'll be happy to see it removed. OTOH, I hope they don't just remove content for the Belgian market as it'd potentially c…

EA has publicly stated that there will not be lootboxes [1] or even DLCs [2]. I'm especially content about there not being DLCs that divide the player base so much that there are only enough players available to play the base maps.

If only they'd bring back a usable server browser, or (god forbid) release the server software for community game servers.

[1] https://www.polygon.com/2018/5/23/17386912/battlefield-5-loo...

[2] https://www.pcgamer.com/battlefield-5-will-have-no-premium-p...

Re: EA reportedly under criminal investigation in Belgium due to FIFA's loot boxes

#46

Post by gaius »

daemin wrote: post #12
mbel wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Video game publishers have been trying consistently to implement a "less for more" attitude when it comes to their products. Isn't maximizing profits just a natural consequence of having a for-profit business? It's not just evil video game publishers, everybody wants to sell less for more.

The problem is that in their pursuit of profit they are creating slot machines with the actual game on the side. Then they are crippling the game so that you have to use the slot machine to have any sense of fun while playing the game. Therefore there are two choices: Either they get regulated as other slot machine makers around the world, including being taxed as both a slot machine maker and as a slot machine opera…

including being taxed as both a slot machine maker and as a slot machine operator.

In France so presumably Belgium too, gambling companies are taxed on turnover.

Re: EA reportedly under criminal investigation in Belgium due to FIFA's loot boxes

#49

Post by seppoastian »

dx87 wrote: post #42
daemin wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem is that in their pursuit of profit they are creating slot machines with the actual game on the side. Then they are crippling the game so that you have to use the slot machine to have any sense of fun while playing the game. Therefore there are two choices: Either they get regulated as other slot machine makers around the world, including being taxed as both a slot machine maker and as a slot machine opera…

Which games are you talking about that require you to open loot boxes in order to have fun in the game? The most popular games that I can think of with loot boxes, Hearthstone, Dota 2, Overwatch, CS:GO, PUBG, all either have strictly cosmetic items in the loot boxes, or have ways of getting the loot boxes free through gameplay. Saying that major developers are creating games that require you to buy loot boxes in orde…

"Middle-earth: Shadow of War" comes to mind. To beat the endgame you either had to grind really hard, or just buy loot boxes (to get best Orcs, Equipment and Buffs). They said that the lootboxes didn't have an influence on the game "difficulty", but after they removed the lootboxes the endgame was also patched to adjust for normal play.

They also had a PvP element where you could attack other peoples strongholds, but with the lootboxes it was also pay to win.

Re: EA reportedly under criminal investigation in Belgium due to FIFA's loot boxes

#50

Post by golergka »

So, once again a government tries to dictate what people can and cannot spend their money on.

I don't like games with lootboxes. I don't buy lootboxes. I don't buy games that have them. As a game developer, I don't work on games with lootboxes.

But this is my personal preference, and I am an adult who is capable of making such a decision. I respect other people who decide to buy lootboxes, even if I wouldn't do it myself. Why is it so hard to just live and let live?

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