10 Most Controversial Video Game Moments Of 2019
6. EA Call Lootboxes "Surprise Mechanics"
2017 was the year pop culture got involved with microtransactions, as EA's Battlefront 2 being a notable beacon for attention. Loaded with "Star Cards" to level as Star Wars attracts children, and children being taken advantage through pop-ups and recurrent spending methods was a step too far.
Being labelled an "online casino for kids" by a Hawaiian senator, that was all it took for various other fan groups and consumers to weigh in on how MTX had affected a wider set of titles, including FIFA's Ultimate Team.
Everything culminated with an official enquiry from the UK government, who sat down with EA's representatives to grill them on when good business becomes aggressive and predatory.
The answers from EA's side? First up they refused to call them "microtransactions", and insisted on the term "surprise mechanics" instead.
Second was using this to pivot into a whole "People like surprises" defence (an actual quote), which in the end, was all the event amounted to.
EA continue being the most hated company in gaming, and as their sales data proves enough people engage with these systems and understand what they're getting into, nothing will be getting done any time soon.