7 Times The Gaming Industry Gave In To Anger

Across the majority of 2019, the world of microtransactions was turned on its head when people seemed to finally notice a lot of similarities between how this practice was implemented in some video games and gambling.

Now gambling, as we are told by nearly every governing body, is something only adults can engage in and only under strict guidelines, yet in the Wild West of the video game industry it seemed that anyone could set up a game and begin using loot boxes to encourage impulsive spending.

For years this practice had been flying under the radar, but with EA's absolute clanger Star Wars Battlefront II provoking outrage from the community, the wider media was quick to take notice. The fans had pointed out that Battlefront II had become a pay to win experience, where loot boxes were rewarding players who pumped in enough cash with game breaking abilities and skills.

Quick to back pedal, EA ushered statements of apology and removed the loot boxes from the game, but the fans didn't stop. They were sick of being treated like guinea pigs by companies like EA looking to milk some more cash out of them, and carried on pursuing the developer. As a result, the argument reached a wider forum and entire countries began to look into classifying loot boxes as gambling accessible by minors.

It was not a good look, but thanks to the anger of the community, a reshaping of the industry itself was set in motion. Where it ends and in what form however, is still to be decided.