I mean if you’re going to gamble like that, at least be humble about it and give the person some credit right?

NBA2K drew a lot of ire from gamers this year, especially as it continued to defy changing industry attitudes towards loot boxes and gambling, by doubling down on those aspects of the game. The game has slot machines in it, which seem a little out of place in a basketball sim. Despite the blowback from core gamers, NBA2K has gone on to be the best-selling game in the US.

EA’s Star Wars: Battlefront II not only holds the record for the most downvoted Reddit comment in existence, but its initial release, which relied on predatory microtransactions and dodgy loot boxes brought discussion about loot boxes to the mainstream. Since then, we’ve seen Benelux countries outright banned the things. The UK and the US have largely remained firm in their …

Over in the land of Oz, the Australian fuzz from the Sporting Integrity Intelligence Unit have been monitoring suspicious CS:GO team activity and have begun issuing arrest warrants after a lengthy investigation. Acting on a tip-off, Australia’s thin blue line arrested six people so far under the allegation that they’ve been throwing matches while also placing bets on those bouts and raking in a tidy sum of cash in the process.

Continuing the UK’s general inquiry into the legality of loot boxes, Margot James stated that loot boxes are in no way gambling but do lead to gambling. Should we tell her? Over the past few weeks, the UK has been following up on claims that loot boxes, every publisher’s favourite form of income, function as some form of gambling targeted …

More and more governments are starting to probe loot boxes, investigating whether or not they’re akin to gambling and what harmful effects they might have on children. Some US states, like Hawaii, have also looked to legislate them. Now, the US’s Federal Trade Commission will investigate loot boxes to see if the monetisation method is akin to gambling.

Detailed in Operation: Let’s Get Some O’ That Sweet Sweet Chinese Cash, Ubisoft explained earlier this month how Rainbow Six Siege would be toning down its environments by removing any reference that contained blood, sex or gambling within it, lest the Chinese censors cross their arms and refuse to classify the game for release within the borders of that nation. That mission has been aborted, I repeat abort the mission.

The regulatory battle against loot boxes and card packs in games continues. Just a week or so after reports that The Belgian Gaming Commission is hitting EA with a criminal investigation for not removing FIFA’s card packs from the game in that country, several gambling regulators have unified to tackle the problem.