Anti-loot box bill poses a real threat to sports video games

How else are those billion-dollar licenses paid?

[CP_Company]

good, very good.

[Kumakai]

That means you aren’t going to get routine updates or the prices of the games go up.... so still good?

[CP_Company]

yeah, like sports games cost so much to make it? there was study that every year to develop a games cost less and less for EA, and profit skyrocket, so i don't need excuses, they can keep the same prices and update the games

[Yobo5]

If you build a business model around something unstable, short -term don't be surprised if it the bubble bursts? I.E: 2008...

GTA5 can make(w/ a single edition at $60) x3 its budget on release 815 M. If you cant sell your main product then just stop being in business.

http://www.guinnessworldrec...

In 2016 Sports games like FIFA make 650M in just MT...

https://www.foxsports.com/s...

[Hungryalpaca]

You’re damn right. I’d rather pay more for a complete product without all the goofy cosmetics that are added to ruin the immersion in games

And in sports games, I’d rather have a complete product without the gambling to increase stats on the roster.

[Gaming101]

They made plenty of money before the days of loot boxes. Profits soar every year because they continually cut costs. EA are a bunch of greedy shits and can easily turn a profit loot boxes or not.

[Iamnothuman12]

Agreed, this stuff has ruined sports games.

[DaReapa]

And NBA 2K has been the worst offender with it's VC nonsense.

[JackBNimble]

But the MT's or just for UT mode , how can 1 mode run sports games?

[Eonjay]

"How else are those billion-dollar licenses paid?"
As if sports games have only existed since the advent of EAs gambling tactics.

[Dizzy11523]

Very good indeed. Sports games are the worst.

[Poopmist]

It doesn't affect cosmetics so they'll just have loot boxen for like alternate team jerseys, shoes, and other things like that.

[DillyDilly]

So pass it already

[Vanfernal]

Sigh... Polygon... Oh no! How will they make all the money? Here's the thing, loot boxes are bullsh*t. PERIOD. You are paying for a RANDOM CHANCE to get an item. Regular micro transactions you see something you like, you buy it. Done deal. It's purely up to the consumer. With loot boxes you basically rely on impulse buys with people throwing away money hoping that the next loot box will be the one that gives them what they want. It's like playing a slot machine. This is why it's basically gambling. As much as I hate government intervention in most things, the greedy triple A publishers brought this upon themselves.

[jeki]

Serious question: have you ever bought a loot box?

[rdgneoz3]

Have you ever gone to a casino and lost thousands? Not many do, but you have people that are addicts and do. You're gambling on getting something good with very very low chances.

[jeki]

"Have you ever gone to a casino and lost thousands? Not many do, but you have people that are addicts and do."

Plenty of people go to casinos and have a great time, it's a night out on the town. Why should we all have to suffer because a small minority have addictive personalities and can't control themselves?

[Hungryalpaca]

Why are you defending this garbage? You kids are ridiculous. You’d get bored of old school games because you couldn’t randomly unlock a pink haircut for MARIO.

[Mapai]

Every government has a duty to protect its citizens, even at the cost of your freedom to gamble.

[jeki]

"Every government has a duty to protect its citizens, even at the cost of your freedom to gamble."

All forms of government censorship are evil.

[Mapai]

"Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information, on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by a government, private institutions, and corporations. "

- Wikipedia.

Banning gambling is not censorship.

[meep316]

How the heck do such stupid articles continuously get written about video games?

[Vanfernal]

Polygon... Lol

[Cmoney007]

They are very easy to make fun of.

[ShockUltraslash]

The power of good and justice has always struck fear into the hearts of evil wrongdowers.

[StormLegend]

This is so stupid! Sports games dont need lootboxes and they dont need to come out every year. Milking us on the same game every year with minor changes.

[kneon]

I don't play sports games so I could very well be wrong, but I expect the core game mechanics don't change drastically each year. So basically they would just need to change the team lineups, update uniforms and you're good to go for the next season.

But they don't want to charge you $10-20 for a seasons pass when they could ding you for a complete game every year.

[MadLad]

Oh no! They'll just have to deal with the profits of the multi-million sales they get every year for what is essentially a roster update.
They'll just double down on MTs.

How will they ever manage?

[Imalwaysright]

"essentially a roster update"

Exactly. It would be interesting to know how much it costs to develop a FIFA game.

[jeki]

The large majority of gamers who want loot boxes banned by the federal government want it because it punishes developers/publishers. That's what it's about, punishment. It's government intervention at it's worst.

Unless you want the government to be your parent.

[MadLad]

"Punish them" for turning the medium into a nickle-and-dimeing machine, at the detriment to the consumer and the product?

Aaaaand that's a bad thing why?

[LordJamar]

Oh boy you are ignorant

[MadLad]

@lord

Then enlighten me, lord of knowledge; keeper of all that is true.

Instead of just throwing at criticism, address the fault in logic I apparently have.

[jeki]

"...for turning the medium into a nickle-and-dimeing machine..."

I reject your hypothesis.

"Aaaaand that's a bad thing why?"

Do you really need that answered?

[Orionsangel]

Good, I don't play sports games.

[Cmoney007]

Polygon is like most of the mainstream media. They will do a good job of embarrassing themselves a lot, and it is just better to think for yourself.

[gerbintosh]

"How else are those billion-dollar licenses paid?"

It's funny how in the past they were able to pay for these licenses without loot boxes. Loot boxes are only there to gain extra money for the shareholders and CEOs

[chris235]

time to check out another business model, then. no one needs the same sports games every year anyway.

[jjb1981]

The way John Jacobson makes The Show '19's microtransactions sound and the lack of reward, that's probably a great thing.

[ShadowWolf712]

Idk, maybe the CONSTANT PRODUCT PLACEMENT AND ADVERTISING THEY DO IN THEM 24/7???

[Segata]

Boo hoo.

[MWH]

About time this abomination ends, hopefully for the good and not for the worse.

[Inzo]

It poses no threat to sports games whatsoever, it does however pose a threat to the shady loot box practice in sports games.

[Thundercat77]

Sports games were successful before without any of this greedy garbage. Our gaming industry will not be damaged or destroyed by these evil corporations and their greedy tactics.

I support the anti loot box bill.

[Spartacus10]

Then hopefully FUT in FIFA can actually be the dream team mode everyone wants instead of a boring grind fest that takes forever to progress in, then is reset when the 'new' game comes out the next year.

[smolinsk]

Yes very good indeed.

[Smokehouse]

The first and last time I will agree with polygon. Good article for once, I’m impressed. Honestly.

[blanka4545]

good and let's see they are still currently there! Ruined nba 2k for me so I go to nba live now!

[nommers]

Awesome!

[AK91]

Excellent

[addictedtochaos]

The same way they paid for them before micro transactions were a thing.

[MetalGearAlex]

no it doesn't. There was a time when there was no such thing as lootboxes and microtransactions in sports games.

[rainslacker]

Billion dollar licenses huh? They don't cost that much. And if they did, they still tend to sell well enough to make a return on profit, because they basically just update the same game every year, which minimizes production costs.

[GtPawnSacrifices]

The issue was with not knowing what was in a loot box. & paying real money for which = gambling.
That & MTs that gave a clear advantage over base players who’d paid for the game to start with.
Anti loot boxes won’t kill games!
It’ll just help publishers get their 💩 together.

[The7Reaper]

Lmao... bootlickers

[Jrios355]

I do wonder how this bill will impact games such as Overwatch, Paladins, and TF2?

[Artemidorus]

Oh no the general public no longer wants to pay for golf memberships and massive yachts with helicopters.

[bellome]

Lootbox poses a real threat to videogamers.

[CrustifiedDibbs]

awww thats too bad. now they cant milk gamers. these game companies did this to themselves. hard to really feel for them at all.

[lellkay]

I hate polygon. Now I hate them even more. Ridiculous article.

[JLynn943]

I hate Hockey Ultimate Team anyway. They try to push it in EASHL sometimes by giving you random packs, but I have no interest.