490°

Electronic Arts Responds to Regulators Classifying Some Loot Boxes as Gambling

Electronic Arts CEO talks about the decision of some regulators to classify loot boxes in some games as gambling, including FIFA 18.

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dualshockers.com
Goldby2172d ago

If there is no economic value to the loot boxes, then why are you charging real money for them?

Leeroyw2172d ago

I love how there's one EA pr guy singly down voting every comment.

This is an indefensible position.

AdonisIsBeast2172d ago

Regulators want a portion of the profit behind this, which is the main reason why they’re beginning to pressure companies who offer lootboxes.

rainslacker2172d ago

@Adonis

Seems if they wanted the money, they'd allow them to continue so they could just tax the revenues.

Hardiman2172d ago

Jinger was defending EA and loot boxes in the comments sections on a few articles when all the Battlefront II fallout happened. I haven't seen any comments from him yet but I imagine he'll make his or her rounds!

indyman77772171d ago

LOL....it may not be a PR guy it may be one of those heart and soul sellouts that defend this stuff. We have all seen them on this site.

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 2171d ago
WilliamSheridan2172d ago

It's gambling, plain and simple. Using real world money for a virtual slot machine that may or may not have any actual real world value. However, you are assigning a value based on the randomness of the item. I can't believe these virtual slot machine loot boxes have existed this long without anyone crushing them...

JackBNimble2172d ago

Slot machines more often then not, pay out nothing.

fiveby92172d ago

Agreed. Randomized purchases. It's a form of gambling. If companies want to sell cosmetics as microtransaction that is one thing. But to make one's purchase a random is a game of chance. Not sure who buys these things but apparently enough people do that these companies fight hard to keep them. I think they saw the cash EA made with FIFA UT and wanted to get in on that action. I hope these business practices are taken out of games either voluntarily or forcibly.

WilliamSheridan2172d ago

@Jack these loot boxes essentially pay out nothing when they give common items that have no in game value whatsoever

Chaos_Order2172d ago

Exactly. Loot boxes are objectively making games worse.

Nyxus2172d ago

"As a result, the publisher is “continuing to push forward and always thinking about players”

Always thinking about their wallets.

UCForce2172d ago (Edited 2172d ago )

Yup, EA will pay the price big time. They are not going anywhere. Their greedy antics will fall their on shoulders.

Imalwaysright2172d ago

I think that the author of this article forgot to add the word "wallets" at the end of that statement.

rainslacker2172d ago

You mean the EA exec. The author just relayed quotes. Wouldn't be the first time that EA forgot to add in that wallet qualifier in all those times they said they have the players interest in mind.

jerethdagryphon2172d ago

Saying theres a chance you get a super item and giving you trash. Is gambling its a prize box type thing like stacker at the arcade tge chance is when x have been bought trigger y

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60°

WayForward Director Says Nintendo Changed The Way He Looks At Making Video Games

Veteran game designer James Montagna is directing this new project and apparently has a new outlook on game design after teaming up with Nintendo

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nintendolife.com
130°

Pocketpair Studio Boss Calls Out Tencent For Developing A Palworld Clone

The game in question appears to be dubbed Auroria on Steam, which shares a plethora of similarities with Palworld.

Inverno1d 1h ago

No offense but Palworld isn't that original either, with that said… ew Tencent no thank you. I love the survival genre but all these half baked early access games have ruined the genre for me.

exputers11h ago

>Palworld isn't that original either

Can't disagree with that, but it did spin the Pokemon dynamic in a unique way, you gotta give Pocketpair that. Now by doing so, prepare for a ton of Palworld clones, both on PC and mobile.

Christopher4h ago

True, but big pocket people pushing out little pocket people is a huge problem. It's Walmart of the digital world.

Inverno4h ago

Not much that can be done though. Tencent been making clones of what's popular for a while. I don't touch anything they make, except for Don't Starve but i bought that before Klei sold themselves to the devil.

Christopher4h ago(Edited 4h ago)

@Inverno: There's a lot that can be done, actually. Just no one is willing to do it. Anti-competitive/monopoly laws literally exist for this exact reason. Governments are just letting big corporations do whatever they want.

150°

With Larian Out Of The Picture, Will The Baldur's Gate IP Be In Safe Hands?

Huzaifah from eXputer: "With Larian Studios washing their hands of the IP, what is the ultimate fate of the legendary Baldur's Gate series?"

RaidenBlack1d 4h ago

If anybody's gonna mention BioWare, then look at Archetype Entertainment, they're the new BioWare
or else
Obsidian is still a good choice but not independent anymore.

anast1d 4h ago (Edited 1d 4h ago )

No, WoTC is pivoting to mobile. They can use Larian's work to justify DnD Go and everyone will accept it.

RiseNShine1d 4h ago

Short answer, nope. Long answer, f*ck nope.

robtion10h ago

Correct answer. Most people don't realise that the companies that are still making good games using common sense and a customer focus are generally not American. They are from Poland, Belgium, Japan, or other countries that have not yet become completely corrupted by 'extreme capitalism'.

Before you down vote me into oblivion I am not anti-american. I just don't like greed and corruption which unfortunately seems to correlate with power.

I would guess the next Baldurs gate will probably be filled with GaaS.

Christopher1d 3h ago

Honestly, we're talking completely new engine and none of Larian's built-in stuff with regard to environments and the like that they had from their past divinity game. No one is going to have that just ready to go. So, they need to shop for a dev studio that has a past game that shows what they want.

Obsidian doesn't have that, maybe the closest being Dungeon Siege 3 or Pillars of Eternity, but those are very basic, not as open, very little environment related and altering capabilities. So, we're talking a step way back on what Larian delivered. Zero scene experience to line up with what was done in BG3. Okay conversation tree designs, but still needs more complexity.

inXile has Wasteland 3 as a base model engine, and I think that's better than Pillars of Eternity from Obsidian. But, still needs to be more open world, more environmental effects, and a much heavier rules set adaptation. But, not a bad overall engine as a base, but still a ton of work. Zero scene experience to line up with what was done in BG3. Needs a ton of work on that entirely.

Tactical Adventure did the Solasta game. Really good and more accurate as far as 5e rules than BG3. But, again, if the expectation is similar to what made BG3 a big hit, engine isn't designed for moving the camera, is a bit outdated in graphics, doesn't have in-game scene elements, and needs much better writers/voice actors.

Owlcat of pathfinder games is another choice, even though they've recently moved on to WH40k licensed games. Again, though, the engine is the biggest issue here to match up, but it's a much better option overall than Tactical Adventure. Another question is writers/story telling, as much of their overall story telling bits are very limited with a lot of random worldbuilding elements that are just +\- of some attributes.

TBH, no matter who takes over, it's just not going to be like BG3 much like how BG3 isn't at all like BG1/2. And BG3 was so successful because of how much Larian was able to put in with their engine and how focused they were on players having ridiculous control over the story being told. I just don't see the next BG being the same and depending on what it is, it might be good but I'm not as big of a reach as BG3. It's way more likely players are going to go into BG4 (or its spiritual successor if it moves away from Baldur's Gate and into Neverwinter or something like Plansescape) expecting much of what is in BG3 with more options, new and older characters, and the same level of control over what they're doing. If it doesn't have that, regardless of who makes it, it won't be as successful, IMHO.

exputers11h ago

Yes, I completely concur.

As good and talented as inXile and Obsidian are in their own specific way of making their particular games, none of them have Larian's attention to detail, dynamic worlds, and reactivity, so even if they end up making a new Baldur's Gate, it's going to be a significant step-down in terms of gameplay if not narrative.

CrimsonWing691d 3h ago

Probably not, but maybe… just maybe…

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