A new study from psychology researchers at the University of Adelaide has lambasted in-game purchases, particularly loot boxes, due to their resemblance to gambling. Dubbing the techniques deployed as “predatory,” it’s possible that this conclusion could factor into the rest of Australia’s investigation into the practice. While microtransactions in general …

FIFA’s Ultimate Team is in a weird position where it’s loot boxes aren’t usually criticised. FIFA’s player base has just come to accept it, and the number of casual players that just play FIFA probably isn’t even aware of the larger discussion surrounding loot boxes. EA is though and will …

Rather than waiting until E3 in a few weeks time, EA decided to hold its own separate Battlefield 5 reveal event last night. While the event lacked in terms of gameplay footage, we did get a decent amount of information. For starters, Battlefield 5 now has a release date, and …

After a much-needed timeout, EA is set to revive microtransactions in Star Wars: Battlefront II on April 18th. Although this is under a revised format, the publisher recognises that it has an image problem among its fans, dedicating itself to “be better” moving forward. Patrick Söderlund has worked at EA …

While the loot box controversy may have peaked with Star Wars Battlefront 2 last year, there was a brief window of time where the spotlight was on Middle-Earth: Shadow of War. Unlike the first game in the series, Shadow of War introduced microtransactions, allowing players to buy loot boxes to …

Ubisoft gained a bit of controversy when it introduced Outbreak Packs into Rainbow Six: Siege, as the content was only available at a premium cost. Despite releasing a number of bug fixes, it seems the publisher has no choice but to temporarily disable the loot boxes due to a tracking …

It’s safe to say that when Star Wars Battlefront II released, EA was far, far away from pleasing everyone. Ridden with pay-to-win microtransactions, the publisher was forced to strip the premium currency from the title temporarily with a promise that they will return. After a lot of revision, EA has …

Back in 2015, Games Workshop found a hit on its hands with the launch of Warhammer: Vermintide. The left 4 Dead style co-op title ended up selling very well and even eventually spread to consoles. A sequel has been in the works for some time now, helmed by developer ‘Fatshark'. …

It looks like the concerns raised by last year's video game loot box controversies are still prevalent in the minds of politicians over in the US. This week, Hawaii's representative outlined four bill proposals that would age-gate games considered to contain a ‘gambling element'. In addition, a US senator sent …

Given the impending return of microtransactions in Star Wars Battlefront II after EA’s recent controversy, the publisher has expressed its support of monetisation and said that the practice can be good for games. This has sparked worries regarding the recently announced Dragon Age sequel, however CEO Andrew Wilson says that …

Last week we learned that DICE would finally be revamping Star Wars Battlefront II's progression system in the wake of last year's massive loot box controversy. We don't have exact details yet, but many are hoping for the removal of Star Cards, which have been a point of contention since …

Late last week as Rainbow Six Siege's 4.2 patch began rolling out, Ubisoft also announced changes to its pricing system for the game, replacing the Standard Edition with a more expensive ‘Advanced Edition'. At the time, this didn't seem like a good deal, as the Advanced Edition was $20 more …

Blizzard has announced the date for the next big Overwatch patch, bringing in a new map to the game and revamping the base, non-event loot boxes with new goodies. The Blizzard World map will be heading to Overwatch on the 23rd of January across all platforms, in addition to new …

Steering away from the controversy, Monster Hunter World producer Ryozo Tsujimoto made sure to assure fans that it wouldn’t be following the same trend as other games when it comes to loot boxes. Now, as we approach the title’s release, he’s keen to reiterate that statement, explaining that any microtransactions …

This week, Overwatch director Jeff Kaplan began discussing Blizzard's 2018 plans for the game and it looks like the studio will be getting the ball rolling very soon. For starters, Overwatch's next map, known as ‘Blizzard World', will be rolling out to all players very soon after spending a couple …

Ahead of its release early next year, Monster Hunter: World is set for yet another PlayStation 4-exclusive beta this Christmas. Despite the lack of a hands-on, users of other platforms aren’t completely without as director Yuya Tokuda also shares details of what to expect when the game lands in March. …

The UK’s Gambling Commission has had its work cut out lately, conducting numerous studies on video game loot boxes and their connection to gambling, as well as third party gambling sites flipping in-game items for real currency. The latter has become the subject of its latest annual report, with the …

Yesterday, EA commented on Battlefront II’s loot box system, stating that the reason it hasn’t stuck solely to cosmetics is to abide by the current Disney canon of the Star Wars universe. It seems that this wasn’t always an issue, however, as dataminers have uncovered deeper character customisation within the …

Despite the changes that have been made, there are still plenty of fans out there that feel Star Wars Battlefront II is a grind. Some sneaky players, however, have crafted contraptions to circumvent the system and earn credits while they are away from their keyboard. Of course, the game as …

While the current controversy surrounds loot boxes, the original debacle with microtransactions arose around free-to-play mobile games that employed an addictive design, ensnaring people into paying out the rear end. It turns out that developer Playsaurus feels pretty bad about the whole thing, dropping the free-to-play model for its upcoming …

It’s safe to say that EA and DICE have had a rough time with Star Wars Battlefront II after it was revealed that the title was ridden with pay-to-win loot crates. While its AMA did little to quell these concerns, DICE has gone one step further, temporarily removing all microtransactions …

This has not been a great week for the folks over at DICE. Star Wars Battlefront II has been dragged through the mud online due to its controversial monetisation and progression system. As a result, some folks from EA and DICE organized a Battlefront II AMA on Reddit last night, …

For years, CD Projekt Red has kept its lips sealed on its upcoming title, Cyberpunk 2077. While there’s not been too much more detail to go off of, the developer has confirmed rumours of online elements, stating that they will be present to ensure long-term success for the title. The …

Star Wars Battlefront II has had a turbulent journey to release, from loot box concerns to EA achieving the most downvoted comment in Reddit’s history. The company has since apologised, making sure to dampen the grind but the controversy continues today, as the publisher is under scrutiny for its refund …

Star Wars Battlefront 2 became embroiled with a controversy around its not-so-subtle pay-to-win microtransactions during its Beta phase, prompting EA and DICE to change things up ahead of release. A 10-hour trial for the title is now available on EA Access and Origin Access for Xbox One and PC respectively, …

Assassin’s Creed Origins released today, giving the series a soft reboot and taking players into Ancient Egypt where it all started. Surprisingly, there has been little to no publicity on the fact that the game does contain clearly pay-to-win microtransactions. Amidst the wave of games just released that contain controversial …

Since the alpha build of Star Wars Battlefront II, there have been concerns surrounding the game’s ‘Star Card’ system, which offer power-ups in multiplayer matches and can be obtained by paying extra money. This came to a head during the recent open beta, forcing DICE to respond. Now this week, …

Star Wars Battlefront II is heading our way later this year but before we get to the full release, there will be an open beta taking place. This week, EA and DICE announced that the public multiplayer beta would be taking place in October, including access to two specific scenarios, …

It has been close to a year since Overwatch finally went live for everyone and during that time, the game has amassed tens of millions of players. To mark the occasion, Blizzard will be holding an Overwatch Anniversary in-game event next week, kicking off on Tuesday the 23rd of May. …

It looks like Blizzard has found another use for WoW tokens as now not only can you use the currency to buy a month of subscription time for World of Warcraft, but you can also transfer a token into Battle.net credit. Transferring your WoW token into Battle.net credit will give …