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

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

The groups Fairplay, Middle for Digital Democracy and 13 other organizations urged the Federal Trade Commission to probe the EA game "FIFA: Final Workforce".

In the game, players build a soccer group using avatars of actual gamers and compete in opposition to different groups. In a letter to the FTC, the teams mentioned the game often costs $50 to $100 but that the corporate pushed push players to spend extra.

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"It entices players to purchase packs looking for special players," mentioned the letter sent by these groups together with the Shopper Federation of America and Massachusetts Council on Gaming and Health and others.

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

"The possibilities of opening a coveted card, reminiscent of a Player of the 12 months, are miniscule unless a gamer spends hundreds of dollars on factors or plays for thousands of hours to earn coins," the teams said in the letter.

Electronic Arts said in a press release on Thursday that of the sport's hundreds of thousands of players, 78% have not made an in-game buy.

"Spending is always elective," an organization spokesperson stated in an e mail statement. "We encourage using parental controls, together with spend controls, which can be available for each major gaming platform, together with EA's own platforms."

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

The FTC, which goes after corporations engaged in misleading habits, held a workshop on loot boxes in 2019. In a "staff perspective" which adopted, the company noted that video game microtransactions have turn 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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