11 Gaming Industry Quotes That Aged Horribly
2. "We Call Them Surprise Mechanics"
If there is one thing that is certain about EA, it is that they will do anything to protect their microtransactions.
A major part of EA’s revenue comes from the Ultimate Team modes for their sports games, including FIFA, Madden, and NHL. The most profitable of the three being FIFA, which earned EA $1.49 billion by the end of the 2020 fiscal year.
But public perception around microtransactions had gotten so bad that the British Parliament's Digital Culture, Media, and Sport (DCMS) Committee began investigating loot boxes over concern that they constitute gambling, and the potential harm they could cause to children, citing anecdotal evidence and research that call loot boxes addictive.
So in response to the questions posed to her about the ethical qualms regarding loot boxes by the committee, vice president of legal and government affairs at EA Kerry Hopkins stated that they preferred to call them surprise mechanics. She would go one step further and claim that they were quite ethical and enjoyable to people.
This statement was used by multiple gaming websites around the world as the perfect example of EA’s pathetic attempts to try justify the presence of loot boxes in their games.