Fortnite developers are set to receive more monetization options for their projects. One point stands out from the newly announced tools as it clearly associates loot boxes with children.
What are these new tools? On fortnite.com, the Fortnite team announced how developers can better monetize their projects in the future, namely through the sale of items for V-Bucks.
It is clearly defined what types of items developers are allowed to sell on their islands. For example, items that can be purchased once and then persist across all gaming sessions in the respective island experience.
However, a passage from the new regulations raises eyebrows. The sale of the following items is also supposed to be allowed:
Paid random items (items that have a chance of receiving a random reward)
- There will be a new parental control feature that allows parents to decide whether their child can buy paid random items in regions where they are available to players.
In other words: Fortnite developers can offer loot boxes with random content for sale and even sell them to children if parents give their consent or if they don’t block it via the parental control option.
Not against the law, but morally questionable
Although experts and consumer organizations clearly classify loot boxes or similar systems with random rewards as gambling (Report by the Federation of German Consumer Organizations, recommended podcast on the topic at gamespodcast.de) and these are treated as such in various countries like Belgium, Germany still refuses to do so.
Nonetheless, the problem remains that loot boxes evoke similar reactions in the human brain as gambling, and that the Fortnite developers are clearly aiming to target children (and thereby a highly susceptible audience) with their paid random items.
How are the authorities responding to the criticism? An editor from Insider Gaming had already reported on the changes and had also used the gambling term. On insider-gaming.com, he now reports that Epic Games has contacted the editorial team, requesting them to change what they see as a false representation.
The argument: It is not gambling, but rather paid random items. Additionally, developers must “disclose the actual numerical probabilities of what the player can receive” when monetizing in this manner.
What do you think: Is this gambling or does Epic Games have a point? Let us know in the comments! By the way, the Simpsons have brought an incredible number of players back to Fortnite right now. Another shooter community is discussing: While Fortnite attracts nearly 3 million players simultaneously with the Simpsons skins, players of Call of Duty are asking: Why are we making such a fuss?
