<\/a><\/p>\nThe problem runs much deeper than that. These in-game advantages are tied behind loot boxes. These boxes are entirely random and purchasing one does not have any guarantees. While they do carry the possibility of obtaining an in-game advantage item, it is entirely possible that a player receives purely cosmetic bonuses such as emotes.<\/p>\n
Granted, these boxes also vary in cost with the most expensive of the bunch all but ensuring some sort of advantage. Those who wish not to participate in such practices are essentially left behind. More so, those do participate can come up empty handed much like real-life gambling.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The ensuing backlash from fans over their predatory nature and construction of an uneven playing ground forced EA to remove them for the time being, however, since then many have wondered whether such boxes should be made available at all.<\/p>\n
In the time since then the Belgium Gaming Commission announced that it has opened a case in regards to these boxes and their slot machine like nature. Because players are unaware of what is inside, many are linking it to gambling. When spinning a slot machine, it is unknown what you’ll win if anything. In Belgium, companies involved with gambling are required to have a license in order to operate. More so, minors and those suffering from addiction are forbidden to play.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
In China steps have already been taken in response to these practices. In March, developers of games featuring random loot boxes are required to reveal the odds of players receiving specific items. In one instance a rare item in free-to-play title Dota 2 has a mere 2% chance of appearing when players pay for one such box.<\/p>\n
It has been reported, however, that it is only required for the Chinese version of the game to release such odds and it’s entirely possible that developers could boost drop rates in China in order to save face. Still, it is the first actual step in an effort to make consumers aware of what lies inside these boxes and potentially put these practices away for good.<\/p>\n
In the time since this fiasco, EA’s stock has dropped 2,5% as of Friday, the release date of Battlefront II. In the entire month of November, it has seen its stock dip by 7% overall.<\/p>\n
It remains to be seen where the company goes from here. They are stuck in a terrible predicament. The development of Battlefront II required three entirely different studios to complete the game which certainly wasn’t cheap. Throw in an aggressive marketing campaign and other costs and the game rivals the financial commitment of its movie brethren.<\/p>\n
Star Wars itself is a large IP and while it would be easy to offer pure cosmetic bonuses in place of in-game advantages, that simply cannot be allowed. Each cosmetic variation would have to be approved by Disney and Lucasfilm and because Darth Vader has already been established to look a certain way, it is almost impossible to imagine some variation being allowed. As with such to help recoup costs from such an expensive development, this is almost the only logical way to do so, however, at the expense of players.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
With the game releasing so close to another mainline Star Wars film, these boxes will have to be on hold for the time being. Disney won’t allow negative press to impact the release of The Last Jedi. In the time following the release, players will move past the game and the money that could have been made will be for naught. At that point the studio finds themselves at a loss, and potentially losing a huge IP.<\/p>\n
Not only does this tale have future implications on the Star Wars video game franchise, but on gaming as a whole. If said boxes are considered gambling, than other huge franchises such as Call of Duty will find themselves in a similar predicament. At that point will games leave behind their cheap nature in favor of a higher upfront cost? All of this will be seen in the coming months and years.<\/p>\n
References:<\/p>\n
http:\/\/www.gameinformer.com\/b\/news\/archive\/2016\/10\/10\/2017-video-game-release-schedule.aspx<\/p>\n
https:\/\/kotaku.com\/how-much-does-it-cost-to-make-a-big-video-game-1501413649<\/p>\n
http:\/\/www.ign.com\/articles\/2013\/10\/15\/the-real-cost-of-gaming-inflation-time-and-purchasing-power<\/p>\n
http:\/\/www.ign.com\/articles\/2016\/05\/10\/star-wars-battlefront-sales-top-14-million<\/p>\n
https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/2015\/10\/12\/9512397\/star-wars-battlefront-dlc-season-pass<\/p>\n
https:\/\/www.gamespot.com\/articles\/gta-5s-online-mode-has-generated-half-a-billion-do\/1100-6438765\/<\/p>\n
https:\/\/www.engadget.com\/2017\/08\/03\/gta-online-take-two-earnings\/<\/p>\n
https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/2017\/5\/2\/15517962\/china-new-law-dota-league-of-legends-odds-loot-box-random<\/p>\n
https:\/\/www.pcgamesn.com\/dota-2\/dota-2-treasures-china<\/p>\n
http:\/\/money.cnn.com\/2017\/11\/16\/technology\/battlefront-ii-star-wars-game-ea-costs\/index.html<\/p>\n
https:\/\/www.gamespot.com\/articles\/ea-stock-price-drops-after-star-wars-battlefront-2\/1100-6455080\/<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
It’s no new, news that video games and their accompanying systems are cheaper than ever. A case study by IGN found that when accounting for inflation, video games in the modern era are certainly more cheaper than in the past. A $50 PS2 game in 2005 is worth $60 today and more drastically a $70 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1128,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/j469.ascjclass.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3740"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/j469.ascjclass.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/j469.ascjclass.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/j469.ascjclass.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1128"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/j469.ascjclass.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3740"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/j469.ascjclass.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3740\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3760,"href":"http:\/\/j469.ascjclass.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3740\/revisions\/3760"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/j469.ascjclass.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3740"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/j469.ascjclass.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3740"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/j469.ascjclass.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3740"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}