9 Ways 2017 Has Changed The Future Of Video Games Forever

9. Lootboxes Are Finally Being Outed As Gambling

You know it, they know it - we've all known it. All it took was one truly insulting example to tip the scales, and the whole world essentially goes "Oh now come on, we've all had our fun, but... this?! This is too much."

Such is the case with Star Wars Battlefront 2. EA's attempt to charge full price at retail for a game whose progression is still completely random i.e. what you'd find in a free-to-play mobile game, was too insidious to let slide. The only way to bypass said progression is to throw more money at it, hoping you somehow happen upon the equipment, characters and items you actually want.

Truly, it's the first time we've had a bonafide pay-to-win mentality prevalent in a triple-A product, and that didn't go down well with the world's investigative gaming bodies. Not.at.all.

At time of writing we've seen loot boxes branded as gambling by the Belgian and Hawaiian's governments, alongside a multitude of other outlets. All zero in on the duplicitous, predatory nature of reward systems that badger you to have another spin of the wheel, and the backlash has been so sever, it's going to brand all loot box systems as anti-consumer for the foreseeable future.