Epic Games sued for lama's "booty boxes"

Epic Games is being sued by the parent of a minor gambler in California who claims that Fortnite Save the World's original mechanisms of raffling blinds were unfair and misleading for consumers.

To be clear, Epic has already terminated the practice of blinded booty boxes and they only existed in Fortnite's original Save the World cooperative mode, and not in the mode. popular Fortnite Battle Royale that propelled the game to fame. But the plaintiff claims that they, along with hundreds of thousands of other players – have been robbed of their money by Epic's business practices.

In the complaint, the plaintiff argues that the chances of a box of lama spoils dropping a rare item are slim. They claim that by not disclosing the falling rates of objects in the game, Epic Games deceive consumers and that the company is engaged in "predatory" business practices that convince young players to "get lucky" and to receive more pieces of loot.

It is unclear at this time how the plaintiff knows the odds are low if Epic does not disclose these rates, but that's what lawyers currently claim.

"[The] The plaintiff, like hundreds of thousands of consumers, was seduced by the dubious business practices of Epic and bought the llamas of Epic in the hope of finding a rare and powerful solution. booty, "reads the complaint. "The plaintiff did not receive the desired booty and never had a realistic chance of In doing so. "

If the probabilities were disclosed, the complaint suggests that the player would never have bought them.

Lawmakers and regulators around the world have begun to take a closer look at the box office in recent years, following the publication by Electronic Arts (EA) of Star Wars Battlefront II in November 2017. The community of players is unleashed against developers for the inclusion of surprise boxes, especially in a game initially costing $ 60. Some US lawmakers and advocates have taken note of outrage and proposed a bill to regulate mailboxes under traditional gaming legislation.

The US Federal Trade Commission announced last week that it would hold a public workshop with consumer advocates, parent companies and industry groups around surprise boxes. We do not know when this forum will take place and what will come out, if any, at the end.