Tag Archives: Loot crates

Contrary to Activision’s usual business choices, the publisher surprisingly allowed Treyarch to release Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 without controversial loot boxes. Sadly, 4 months of bliss has come to an end, as Operation Grand Heist introduces paid Reserve Crates. The change isn’t entirely unexpected given that the series …

Despite multiple countries scrutinising loot boxes for their supposed link to gambling, the United Kingdom has taken a rather reserved approach by dismissing the connection on numerous occasions. Fortunately, further investigations from the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee into “addictive technologies” is allowing the public to have their say …

Loot boxes have been a hot topic for the past year, with governing bodies seemingly divided on relationship between chance-based microtransactions and gambling. Australia is looking to make its own decisions by September, authorising the Environment and Communications References Committee to investigate the practice. The motion was presented earlier this …

Loot boxes became the subject of controversy for the Dutch back in April, as The Netherlands Gaming Authority found that some games did breach gambling laws. The country gave developers until today to alter game designs or face prosecution, forcing Valve to make some changes to its Marketplace. It’s fair …

The Belgium Gaming Commission spoke out against purchasable in-game loot boxes two weeks ago, deeming the practice illegal. Now it believes that its top offenders should face criminal prosecution, defining exactly what does and does not constitute as gambling as well as the proceedings that should follow if these parameters …

EA opened a can of worms with the inclusion of loot boxes in Star Wars: Battlefront II, with each country discussing whether or not the practice is a form of gambling. Challenging the accusations, EA chief executive Andrew Wilson has revealed that the company will continue to implement loot boxes …

Loot boxes are currently a hot topic in the gaming industry, leading many companies to re-evaluate how their own systems work. In an attempt to get ahead of the curve, Riot has now released its drop rates for League of Legends’ Hextech Chests, alongside its bonus drops and special rules. …

While development might have slowed for certain features of PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds in favour of putting a stop to cheaters, it seems that loot crates are entirely unaffected. PUBG Corp has revealed that it has two new cosmetic crates lined up for testing today: The Militia Crate and the Fever Crate. …

Hawaii representative Chris Lee has made some progress on his crusade against loot boxes, originally vilifying EA’s Star Wars Battlefront II as a ‘Star Wars-themed online casino’ because of the practice. The legislator has now proposed four new bills in hopes of prompting transparency in the gaming industry as well …

Sea of Thieves is just over a month away from release, and although developer Rare will be helping its players simulate the life of a pirate, it’s keen on keeping its own shady practices to a minimum. As such, while microtransactions are a possibility somewhere down the line, the more …

The question of whether or not loot boxes constitute as gambling rages on. Despite some countries already coming to the conclusion that they don’t, the German Youth Protection Commission isn’t convinced and is now considering a ban based on a new study. German newspaper Welt was first on the story, …

Yesterday, Ubisoft announced the upcoming changes to its retail offerings, including the Standard Edition being replaced by the more expensive and ever-so-slightly more robust Advanced Edition. Included within the announcement are details of Outbreak Packs, Siege’s event counterpart of its Alpha Packs but instead of being earned in-game, these loot …

Today, a GDC survey outlined that loot crates are necessary for the continued survival of games and their respective studios, but something is inherently wrong about the way the practice is conducted in the Western world. Ubisoft is keen to take a crack at defining how it’s supposed to be …

If you think loot boxes are so 2017, it seems that you’d be wrong as it looks like the practice isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. For the past three years, more than 4,500 developers who have attended the Game Developers Conference have expressed their intention of implementing “paid item crates,” …

PlayerUnknown’s Battleground’s second major post-release update is currently live on the test servers, bringing with it changes to how PUBG Corp handles cheating, performance and balance tweaks. PUBG is also expanding its loot crates as well as possibly adding in a new type of microtransaction, but in a bid to …

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 …

Update (22/11/17): After announcing that it would be launching an investigation last week, the Belgium Gaming Commission has announced that it now deems video game loot boxes as a form of gambling. Initially, the Belgium Gaming Commission was investigating the crates obtained in games like Overwatch and Star Wars Battlefront …

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 …

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, …

DICE’s upcoming Star Wars: Battlefront 2 was criticised during its beta phase for locking core progression behind loot crates, causing EA to revise its system before release. Producer Paul Keslin has since opened up more about the revisions ahead of its 17th November launch, going into more detail of what’s …

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, …

Over the last few months, there have been some growing concerns surrounding Star Wars: Battlefront and its in-game microtransaction system. This came to a head last weekend when the open beta kicked off. Fans didn't get the best impression of the loot crate system, so today, DICE has spoken out …

Gaming at the moment is facing a loot box epidemic, in that any and every other release seems to contain the randomised content crates, causing quite the controversy for many reasons. One of the most severe concerns was that these loot boxes could be considered gambling and are accessible to …

While titles like Middle-Earth: Shadow of War and Star Wars Battlefront II are coming under fire for their loot box microtransactions, Ubisoft is taking the safer route this year with Assassin’s Creed: Origins. There will be loot boxes present in the game, but before you roll your eyes too hard, …

When Star Wars Battlefront 2 was announced, many were excited to hear just how much content would be packed in comparison to its predecessor and even more thrilled in that it would be free. It seems the catch has been revealled in the beta, however, with abilities and weapons being …

Back when Warner Bros was set to release Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor, the publisher ran into a bit of a marketing blunder with its YouTube coverage policies. Now, it seems that the publisher is set to receive some backlash again, this time with Shadow of War, as WB has …