A lawsuit has been filed against Take-Two Interactive for the sale of loot boxes in the NBA 2K series.
As reported by Bloomberg, the lawsuit was filed on behalf of a minor and her guardian at the Winnebago Country Circuit Court on January 11.
According to the complainants, the case – which was moved to the Illinois Northern District Court on February 25 – states that “Defendant’s unfair, deceptive and unlawful practices, including illegal gambling practices, deceive, mislead and harm consumers.”
The lawsuit also claims that the NBA 2K loot boxes “psychologically distance” players from real-life financial implications, especially minors who have to use their guardian’s credit card information to buy them.
The plaintiff is seeking at least £3.7million ($5million USD) in damages. A Take-Two spokesperson declined to comment on the lawsuit to Bloomberg, as did the plaintiff.
This isn’t the first time someone has filed a lawsuit against a game publisher over loot boxes. Back in 2020, EA had a lawsuit filed against it over its Ultimate Team loot boxes. The class-action lawsuit was filed in the US District Court of Northern California and focused on the Dynamic Difficulty Adjustment in Ultimate team that was present in Madden NFL, FIFA and NHL games.
Last year, researchers at Plymouth and Wolverhampton universities published a report that concluded that loot boxes are “structurally and psychologically akin to gambling” and that large numbers of children are spending real and in-game currency on them.
The report found that of the 93 per cent of children who play video games, up to 40 per cent of them opened loot boxes. It was also discovered that around five per cent of loot box purchasers were spending around £70 per month, generating over half of the industry’s revenue from loot boxes.
In other news, RimWorld has been removed from Steam in Australia.
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