Nearly every single major player in the video game industry has now weighed in on the loot box/microtransaction drama. Take-Two Interactive, the publisher behind titles like Red Dead Redemption and Grand Theft Auto have now shared their two cents. The statement was given by the President at Take-Two, Karl Slatoff, and rather than state anything original, he chose to reference another major player.
At the Credit Suisse 21st Annual Technology, Media, and Telecom Conference, Slatoff said that Take-Two feels the same as the ESA (Entertainment Software Association). Their outlook is that loot boxes are not a form of gambling, and thus they are not going to make any changes to how they are integrated into games. Both Take-Two and the ESA recognize that state and federal governments will make this decision for them however. So rather than coming together within the industry to self-regulate, Take-Two and the ESA prefer to lay their cards down and see where they’ll lay.
All of this drama was of course put in mainstream headlines by Star Wars Battlefront 2 , released by Electronic Arts. Other pay-to-win microtransactions within games are boosting the story even further into the public eye. Take-Two has had microtransactions within their games for years now, including Grand Theft Auto 5 ( GTA Online ), which released in 2013 but still rakes in money for the company. The upcoming Red Dead Redemption 2 is going to have an online mode, which will most likely include loot boxes. The reasoning for this is Take-Two’s self-admitted plans to add continuous spending to all of their future games.
It seems everyone has weighed in on the loot box controversy already, but who have we not heard from yet that you’d like to hear chime in? Let us know in the comments.
Source: Game Rant