Groups urge U.S. to probe ‘loot box’ on Electronic Arts video game

WASHINGTON, June 2 (Reuters) - Consumer advocates on Thursday urged U.S. regulators to investigate video game maker Electronic Arts Inc (EA.O) for what they say was the deceptive use of a digital "loot field" that "aggressively" urges gamers to spend more money while taking part in a preferred soccer game.

The teams Fairplay, Heart for Digital Democracy and 13 different organizations urged the Federal Trade Commission to probe the EA sport "FIFA: Final Team".

In the sport, gamers construct a soccer workforce utilizing avatars of actual players and compete towards different groups. In a letter to the FTC, the groups mentioned the game usually prices $50 to $100 however that the corporate pushed push gamers to spend more.

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"It entices gamers to purchase packs in quest of particular players," mentioned the letter sent by these groups together with the Consumer Federation of America and Massachusetts Council on Gaming and Well being and others.

The packs, or loot containers, are packages of digital content material typically purchased with actual cash that give the purchaser a potential advantage in a sport. They are often purchased with digital currency, which may obscure how much is spent, they mentioned.

"The chances of opening a coveted card, resembling a Player of the Year, are miniscule except a gamer spends hundreds of dollars on factors or performs for 1000's of hours to earn cash," the teams stated in the letter.

Digital Arts said in a statement on Thursday that of the game's hundreds of thousands of gamers, 78% haven't made an in-game buy.

"Spending is all the time elective," a company spokesperson said in an e-mail assertion. "We encourage the use of parental controls, together with spend controls, that are obtainable for each main gaming platform, together with EA's personal platforms."

The spokesperson additionally stated the company created a dashboard so gamers would observe how a lot time they performed, how many packs they opened and what purchases were made.

The FTC, which matches after companies engaged in misleading habits, held a workshop on loot containers in 2019. In a "staff perspective" which followed, the company famous that video game microtransactions have change into a multibillion-dollar market.

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

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