Teams urge U.S. to probe ‘loot box’ on Electronic Arts online game

WASHINGTON, June 2 (Reuters) - Shopper advocates on Thursday urged U.S. regulators to analyze online game maker Digital Arts Inc (EA.O) for what they are saying was the deceptive use of a digital "loot box" that "aggressively" urges gamers to spend more money while taking part in a well-liked soccer game.

The teams Fairplay, Center for Digital Democracy and 13 other organizations urged the Federal Commerce Fee to probe the EA recreation "FIFA: Ultimate Team".

In the recreation, players build a soccer team utilizing avatars of actual gamers and compete in opposition to other teams. In a letter to the FTC, the teams stated the sport usually costs $50 to $100 but that the corporate pushed push gamers to spend extra.

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"It entices players to buy packs in the hunt for special players," said the letter sent by these groups along with the Consumer Federation of America and Massachusetts Council on Gaming and Well being and others.

The packs, or loot packing containers, are packages of digital content generally bought with actual cash that give the purchaser a potential benefit in a game. They are often bought with digital currency, which can obscure how much is spent, they said.

"The possibilities of opening a coveted card, resembling a Participant of the Yr, are miniscule unless a gamer spends 1000's of dollars on factors or performs for thousands of hours to earn cash," the groups said in the letter.

Electronic Arts mentioned in a press release on Thursday that of the sport's tens of millions of gamers, 78% have not made an in-game purchase.

"Spending is all the time non-compulsory," a company spokesperson said in an e-mail statement. "We encourage the usage of parental controls, together with spend controls, which can be out there for each main gaming platform, together with EA's own platforms."

The spokesperson additionally said the corporate created a dashboard so players would monitor how a lot time they performed, how many packs they opened and what purchases had been made.

The FTC, which goes after firms engaged in misleading conduct, held a workshop on loot boxes in 2019. In a "workers perspective" which followed, the company famous that online game microtransactions have turn into a multibillion-dollar market.

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Reporting by Diane Bartz in Washington Editing by David Gregorio and Matthew Lewis

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