EA Sued For Illegal License Gaming Systems

Electronic Arts (EA) well known in EA Sports is better than its reputation in some respects, but the publisher always manages to make a mistake. It is also undisputed that EA wants to make as much profit as possible from its games. And that is now the subject of a lawsuit.

The excitement around so-called loot boxes has lately subsided a little and most providers have largely defused this reward and financing solution. But that doesn’t mean that these “virtual surprise bags” with in-game items and other content no longer exist.

The allegation that loot boxes are a form of gambling is still not out of the world. This is also the subject of a class-action lawsuit in Canada. Because Madden NFL player Mark Sutherland and NHL owner Shawn Moore bought virtual content in the American football and ice hockey game and are now suing EA for loot boxing.

As reported by The Patch Notes, a blog on esports and gaming law via Kotaku, the plaintiffs are of the opinion that the publisher is unlawfully enriching himself and operating an “illegal gambling system” by selling loot boxes in popular video games.

According to the plaintiffs, the whole thing is illegal because they believe that loot boxes are to be seen as a game of chance and EA does not have a license for it in Canada. The subject of the lawsuit is not only the game titles of the two gamers but a number of other EA games, including FIFA, Battlefield, Dragon Age, and Mass Effect.

More than a snap action

The Patch Notes believes that this is not a typical class-action lawsuit. Because these are often cobbled together quickly and they are usually also about public attention. Not in the present case: “This is not a self-represented litigation party filing a harassment lawsuit, but a well-founded claim filed by an experienced team of lawyers who specialize in prosecuting large companies for such matters.”