Epic Games CEO slams loot boxes for playing on “all the mechanics of gambling”
Tim Sweeney was addressing an audience at a gaming summit in Las Vegas when he denounced the ubiquitous feature
Epic Games founder and CEO Tim Sweeney has taken a swipe at loot boxes within video games as he compared them to gambling.
Speaking at the DICE Summit in Las Vegas this week, Sweeney highlighted the similarities between the gaming industry and gambling, and the potential negative impact on gamers.
He said: “We have to ask ourselves as an industry: what do we want to be when we grow up? Do we want to be Las Vegas, or do we want to be worldwide, highly respected creators of entertainment products customers can trust?”
Sweeney, whose Epic Games company created the hugely popular Fortnite title, continued to condemn loot boxes and forecasted a move away from the vertical for the industry.
He continued: “I think we will see more and more publishers move away from loot boxes. We should be very reticent of creating an experience where the outcome can be influenced by spending money. Loot boxes play on all the mechanics of gambling except for the ability to get more money out in the end.”
Sweeney also spoke out against “industries that are based on adversarial business models, businesses that profit from doing customers harm, and doing their supportive ecosystems harm”.
Elsewhere, two lawsuits have been launched in France against EA Sports, the creators of the FIFA video game series, regarding their Ultimate Team gameplay mode and whether it should be classed as a form of gambling.
Ultimate Team follows the loot box method whereby players purchase packs of cards to collect players to place in their teams.
Speaking to French publication L’Équipe, one Ultimate Team user lamented the fact he was “behind on rent payments” and that the game makes you “frustrated” so that “you buy again and again.”