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  1. #1
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    EA slapped with a €10 million fine by Dutch court

    https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articl...ling-authority

    A Netherlands District Court this week ruled against Electronic Arts in a case over FIFA loot boxes, allowing the Netherlands Gambling Authority (Kansspelautoriteit, or Ksa) to proceed in fining the publisher €10 million for violating the country's Betting and Gaming Act.
    "The Ksa believes it is crucial to shield vulnerable groups, such as minors, from exposure to gambling," the regulator explained. "For that reason, the Ksa supports a strict separation between gaming and gambling. Gamers are often young and therefore particularly susceptible to developing an addiction. As such, gambling elements have no place in games."
    The Ksa informed developers in April of 2018 that it considered loot boxes violations of the Betting and Gaming Act, giving them eight weeks to make their games compliant.
    The EA fine was originally imposed last October, but EA contested both the fine and the Ksa's desire to reveal them to the public. The three-judge panel ruled against the publisher on both fronts, permitting the Ksa to levy the maximum allowable fine of €5 million to Electronic Arts and a second maximum fine to Electronic Arts Swiss Sàrl, and to announce them as well.
    According to the judgment, EA argued that FIFA loot boxes would not count as gambling under the Betting and Gaming Act because FIFA Ultimate Team packs (loot boxes) don't offer items of value because they cannot be directly converted into money, that FIFA is inherently a game of skill rather than chance, and that there is no scientific evidence linking the opening of Ultimate Team packs to gambling addiction.
    The court was unswayed by those arguments, noting that there are ways for people to profit from Ultimate Team cards that can be valued at nearly €2,000, and that people can ignore the proper FIFA gameplay and "play" the Ultimate Team packs as their own sort of game.
    All I can say is good riddance. Hopefully more countries start holding EA and other developers to account with legal action, it's time to get this plague out of gaming for good.

  2. #2
    Unfortunately the fine is not big enough imo. They'll continue these practices elsewhere and rake in profit.

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  4. #4
    Quote Originally Posted by Sorshen View Post
    Unfortunately the fine is not big enough imo. They'll continue these practices elsewhere and rake in profit.
    It is a start. If they loose the entire european market it would be quit the big hit. Not a killing blow but still.
    Hope the other countries follow suit soon. Get rid of that abomination and then please target the freaking mobil games who exploit children the same if not harder.

  5. #5
    Void Lord Aeluron Lightsong's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by VinceVega View Post
    It is a start. If they loose the entire european market it would be quit the big hit. Not a killing blow but still.
    Hope the other countries follow suit soon. Get rid of that abomination and then please target the freaking mobil games who exploit children the same if not harder.

    Hopefully but I think thats where it will stay. Doubt the US will do anything or even the asian markets.
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    Legendary! Ealyssa's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Sorshen View Post
    Unfortunately the fine is not big enough imo. They'll continue these practices elsewhere and rake in profit.
    10 millions per EU country isn't that small of a fine. And bigger countries will most likely fine for more. Could easily end up in the billion if the EU is stepping up on the matter.
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  7. #7
    Quote Originally Posted by Aeluron Lightsong View Post
    Hopefully but I think thats where it will stay. Doubt the US will do anything or even the asian markets.
    Asian market DEFINETLY not. US only if europe has it allready. And even then questionable... so agreed^^

  8. #8
    Quote Originally Posted by Rennadrel View Post
    https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articl...ling-authority



    All I can say is good riddance. Hopefully more countries start holding EA and other developers to account with legal action, it's time to get this plague out of gaming for good.
    It's a start, but just wrist-slap for the moment.
    But people here are starting to tire of companies bending the rules and staining them through lobbying.

    It's high time these courts remember that they have teeth and use them - comply or see your intellectual property voided, unbinding free redistribution.
    If they do it properly they could make a pretty penny on the side by facilitating the spread of materials with voided rights too, thereby regaining some of the money lost to these unlawful leeches.
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  9. #9
    Quote Originally Posted by Aeluron Lightsong View Post
    Hopefully but I think thats where it will stay. Doubt the US will do anything or even the asian markets.
    Yeah....USA's immediate response is usually "Why aren't the parents watching their kids?!"

  10. #10
    Europe is a pretty huge market, so it's definitely a step in the right direction.

  11. #11
    The Lightbringer Cæli's Avatar
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    we'll see more and more of this kinds of ruling;
    one day game as a service will be illegal with increasingly younger judges caring about this subject for the population, with the premise that progression in the game is personal data, and that editors don't have the right to own this personal data
    therefore editors will have to either provide hosting servers to players, or provide offline functions
    this ruling can't come soon enough, with the advent of "cloud gaming"
    Last edited by Cæli; 2020-10-30 at 06:47 PM.

  12. #12
    Void Lord Aeluron Lightsong's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Cæli View Post
    we'll see more and more of this kinds of ruling;
    one day game as a service will be illegal with increasingly younger judges caring about this subject for the population, with the premise that progression in the game is personal data, and that editors don't have the right to own this personal data
    therefore editors will have to either provide hosting servers to players, or provide offline functions
    this ruling can't come soon enough, with the advent of "cloud gaming"
    Game as a service can be done right and this is more lootbox related
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  13. #13
    Quote Originally Posted by loras View Post
    It's a start, but just wrist-slap for the moment.
    But people here are starting to tire of companies bending the rules and staining them through lobbying.

    It's high time these courts remember that they have teeth and use them - comply or see your intellectual property voided, unbinding free redistribution.
    If they do it properly they could make a pretty penny on the side by facilitating the spread of materials with voided rights too, thereby regaining some of the money lost to these unlawful leeches.
    I absolutely agree with you. very deep thoughts that respond within me.

  14. #14
    Quote Originally Posted by Price Lopez View Post
    I absolutely agree with you. very deep thoughts that respond within me.
    Why are you still here? You already advertised your crap.

  15. #15
    and before leaving the court room they have made it back from sportsgame simps being the biggest rmt paypigs in the entire medium.

  16. #16
    Quote Originally Posted by dope_danny View Post
    and before leaving the court room they have made it back from sportsgame simps being the biggest rmt paypigs in the entire medium.
    The amount of money they make from fifa card packs is insane. Every year people spends thousands just trying to get Ronaldo or Messi for the online competitive mode. And they have op legendary cards of past icons that are super rare and people still try buy them every year through rng. Utter madness

  17. #17
    Awww man. I was hoping they were sued for destroying games that people payed for by shutting down the servers when the game is no longer profitable.

  18. #18
    Loot boxes would be fine if the consumers would have some restraint and the game's revenue reflected it. Clearly people don't have restraint, though, as these dumb fucking gambling games always seem to have the highest revenues.

  19. #19
    Void Lord Aeluron Lightsong's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by BeepBoo View Post
    Loot boxes would be fine if the consumers would have some restraint and the game's revenue reflected it. Clearly people don't have restraint, though, as these dumb fucking gambling games always seem to have the highest revenues.
    No, loot boxes are not fine..at all.
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  20. #20
    Quote Originally Posted by BeepBoo View Post
    Loot boxes would be fine if the consumers would have some restraint and the game's revenue reflected it. Clearly people don't have restraint, though, as these dumb fucking gambling games always seem to have the highest revenues.
    An exploitive system where you you get utter shit 80% of the time is fine as long as people only spend x number of dollars on it?

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