Teams urge U.S. to probe ‘loot field’ on Electronic Arts video game

WASHINGTON, June 2 (Reuters) - Consumer advocates on Thursday urged U.S. regulators to investigate online game maker Electronic Arts Inc (EA.O) for what they are saying was the deceptive use of a digital "loot field" that "aggressively" urges players to spend more cash while taking part in a preferred soccer recreation.

The groups Fairplay, Center for Digital Democracy and 13 other organizations urged the Federal Trade Fee to probe the EA game "FIFA: Ultimate Crew".

In the sport, players construct a soccer team using avatars of real gamers and compete towards different groups. In a letter to the FTC, the teams said the game normally costs $50 to $100 but that the company pushed push players to spend extra.

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"It entices players to purchase packs searching for special gamers," stated the letter despatched by these teams together with the Shopper Federation of America and Massachusetts Council on Gaming and Well being and others.

The packs, or loot bins, are packages of digital content material typically purchased with real money that give the purchaser a potential advantage in a game. They can be purchased with digital foreign money, which might obscure how much is spent, they said.

"The probabilities of opening a coveted card, akin to a Player of the 12 months, are miniscule unless a gamer spends hundreds of dollars on points or plays for thousands of hours to earn cash," the teams stated within the letter.

Digital Arts stated in a press release on Thursday that of the game's millions of gamers, 78% haven't made an in-game buy.

"Spending is all the time optional," a company spokesperson said in an email assertion. "We encourage the use of parental controls, together with spend controls, which are out there for every main gaming platform, including EA's own platforms."

The spokesperson also stated the corporate created a dashboard so players would track how a lot time they performed, what number of packs they opened and what purchases were made.

The FTC, which fits after companies engaged in misleading conduct, held a workshop on loot containers in 2019. In a "workers perspective" which followed, the agency noted that online game microtransactions have become a multibillion-dollar market.

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Reporting by Diane Bartz in Washington Modifying by David Gregorio and Matthew Lewis

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