lootboxes
Lootboxes Are Not Always Bad But Getting It Right Is The Challenge
Lootboxes are here to stay, so the developers better get them right. In the modern day, we are being presented the worst picture of loot boxes as EA takes the centre stage with Battlefront 2. I totally agree on the fact that EA tries to squeeze each penny of their consumer with each game they release. And in its light, numerous games have been downgraded and condemned. Lootboxes aren’t created as an in-game experience by developers. They are often forced to add them to the game by their publisher in order to maximise the profits. This is often the reason for the poor implementation of loot boxes in the top of the class games such as Shadow of War. While I’m not in favour of any form of in-game purchases, players have a varied and divided opinion on the subject. If you glance at...
The Video Game Industry Needs To Self-Regulate, Avoid Government Involvement
All it takes is enough headlines for lawmakers to notice. They’ve noticed. Today I read that Belgium declares it wants loot boxes declared as gambling, and wants them banned in Europe. Before you scoff at a single example from Europe, we now have the U.S. State of Hawaii initiating an investigation into predatory practices at EA, precipitated by the headlines Battlefront II has been making. Once enough dollars are at stake and enough people are aggravated, the hackles are up. Microtransactions, as many have pointed out, have been extremely successful. Success is a double-edged coin. With a massive flood of new revenue coming in based on, essentially, a different way of packaging and selling the same content amount going out, this should have been expected. Scrutiny. Loot boxes, as a ...
Gamers Are Overreacting To Lootboxes, Publishers Should Raise Prices?
While the entire gamer community is rallying against lootboxes and predatory practices in the industry, one Wall Street analyst seems to think differently. Evan Wingren, an analyst at KeyBlanc Capital Markets said in a report to his clients that gamers had taken the EA’s poor handling of microtransactions as a rallying point to protest against all of microtransactions in the industry. He said that gamers were not being overcharged for games, instead paying a lot less than the games should actually cost. “We view the negative reaction to Star Wars Battlefront 2 (and industry trading sympathy) as an opportunity to add to Electronic Arts, Take-Two, and Activision Blizzard positions. The handling of the SWBF2 launch by EA has been poor; despite this, we view the suspension of MTX [...
Lootboxes To Get Banned In Europe – “Mixing Gambling And Gaming Is Dangerous”
The recent controversy over lootboxes in Star Wars: Battlefront 2 had caught the eye of many outside the gaming media, so much so that government officials were paying attention to the claims of lootboxes being similar to gambling. This led to the news that the Belgium Gaming Commission had started an inquiry into the whole matter in order to determine whether lootboxes and microtransactions did really lead to gambling and addiction. Well, turns out that they have come to the conclusion that lootboxes with microtransactions attached to them do constitute a form of gambling, and since children are also playing these video games, lootboxes need to be banned. Belgium’s Minister of Justice, Koen Geens, had this to say: “The mixing of money and addiction is gambling. Mixing gambling...
The Most Annoying Features In Modern Video Games That Gamers Hate
In the modern era, video games have evolved from aimlessly running around and shooting hideously disfigured creatures. I believe that they have become the most immersive forms of entertainment and storytelling in the modern age. You can even do things in video games that you can’t even do in real life like brutally killing a mob as their blood drenches your thirst, exploring beautiful and remote sights on a horseback and talking to girls. However realistic and beautiful they may be, all of them have deemed to have some or the other of these annoying features which ruin your experience. Here are some of the most annoying features in modern video games. Meaningless Side Quests It isn’t that I do not enjoy being a Witcher and once in awhile recover a rusted old frying pan for an o...
CD Projekt RED Throws Shade At Recent Gaming Industry Trends, Says “We Leave Greed To Others”
With the recent news of online elements being added to Cyberpunk 2077 in order to maintain sustainability and make it more “commercially significant”, gamers were worried if this was a sign of their favorite developer going down the path of lootboxes and microtransactions. Luckily those worries have been alleviated as CD Projekt recently said this on Twitter: .@PrettyBadTweets Worry not. When thinking CP2077, think nothing less than TW3 — huge single player, open world, story-driven RPG. No hidden catch, you get what you pay for — no bullshit, just honest gaming like with Wild Hunt. We leave greed to others. — CD PROJEKT RED (@CDPROJEKTRED) November 19, 2017 That final bit about leaving greed to others is a clear jab at the recent lootbox controversy going on, especially with t...
Now Assassin’s Creed Origins Has Lootboxes & Microtransactions
As is the trend with all big video games these days, Assassin’s Creed: Origins now has been confirmed to have loot boxes. Being called, Heka Chest, it can be purchased with in-game currency (for now). Heka means magic in Egypt. You open them to receive items, and they are random. Ubisoft has yet to confirm if they will be purchasable with real currency after release, though they have had microtransactions in Assassin’s Creed games before. Register with us for the best in gaming, and join us for video game discussions on our forums.