Groups urge U.S. to probe ‘loot field’ on Digital Arts video game

WASHINGTON, June 2 (Reuters) - Consumer advocates on Thursday urged U.S. regulators to research video game maker Electronic Arts Inc (EA.O) for what they are saying was the misleading use of a digital "loot field" that "aggressively" urges players to spend more money while playing a well-liked soccer sport.

The groups Fairplay, Center for Digital Democracy and 13 different organizations urged the Federal Trade Fee to probe the EA sport "FIFA: Final Workforce".

Within the sport, gamers build a soccer workforce using avatars of real players and compete in opposition to other groups. In a letter to the FTC, the teams stated the game normally costs $50 to $100 but that the company pushed push gamers to spend extra.

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"It entices gamers to buy packs searching for particular players," mentioned the letter despatched by these groups along with the Client Federation of America and Massachusetts Council on Gaming and Well being and others.

The packs, or loot boxes, are packages of digital content typically bought with real money that give the purchaser a potential advantage in a game. They can be bought with digital foreign money, which might obscure how much is spent, they mentioned.

"The possibilities of opening a coveted card, such as a Participant of the 12 months, are miniscule except a gamer spends thousands of dollars on points or plays for thousands of hours to earn cash," the teams mentioned within the letter.

Digital Arts stated in an announcement on Thursday that of the sport's millions of players, 78% have not made an in-game buy.

"Spending is at all times non-obligatory," an organization spokesperson mentioned in an electronic mail statement. "We encourage the usage of parental controls, together with spend controls, which might be accessible for each major gaming platform, including EA's own platforms."

The spokesperson additionally mentioned the company created a dashboard so players would monitor how a lot time they performed, how many packs they opened and what purchases were made.

The FTC, which goes after companies engaged in deceptive habits, held a workshop on loot containers in 2019. In a "staff perspective" which adopted, the company noted that online game microtransactions have change into a multibillion-dollar market.

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Reporting by Diane Bartz in Washington Modifying by David Gregorio and Matthew Lewis

Our Requirements: The Thomson Reuters Trust Rules.