Tag: Games

Video Game Loot Boxes deemed as gambling in Belgium

This year, governments and countries around the world have been evaluating loot boxes in video games. Discouraged by Gamers, it has become an infamous growth in revenue for video games. Many mobile games and online video games have added loot boxes as a system. Some governments are considering loot boxes as a form of gambling because users rely on chance to earn good in-game items. Recently, the Belgian Gaming Commision has declared randomized loot boxes as a “game of chance” in 3 games: Overwatch, CS: GO, and FIFA. 

Repercussions

The Belgian Gaming Commission stated the “games don’t disclose the odds of receiving specific in-game items.” The three games must remove their loot boxes or be in criminal violation of the country’s gaming legislation. The fine is €800,000 and five years in prison for the operators. Clarification on who would face the consequences in the company remains to be determined. If the loot boxes affect minors, the punishment is doubled.

What happens next?

Minister of Justice Koen Geens wants to work with the gaming companies, developers, operators and the Belgian Gaming Commission to determine who should be punished for loot boxes. Belgium is one of the first countries that took a stance against loot boxes in games during the Star Wars: Battlefront 2 controversy. Hawaii, Washington D.C. and several countries are trying to create laws to limit the purchase of loot boxes in games.

Sources:

Koen Geens – Minister of Justice

Arstechnica

Dark Souls Remastered for PC 50% off

If you own Dark Souls: Prepare to Die edition on Steam, you can grab the Remastered game for 50% when it releases. The normal cost of the game will be $39.99 so the Steam release will be $20. The games will be two separate versions on Steam and Bandai Namco will eventually discontinue the Prepare to Die Edition. Dark Souls: Remastered will launch on May 25th.

The other versions of Dark Souls: Remastered will not be discounted as they are not available on the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, or the Nintendo Switch. The Switch version is delayed until “Summer 2018.”

Sources:

Translated discount

Bully Hunters Group Ends after 5 Days

Last week, a group of female gamers known as “Bully Hunters” was created. The organization was created with collaboration from FCB Chicago, a marketing agency.   Their goal was to attack players who harassed women players in Counter Strike: Global Offense. They described themselves as “vigilante hit squad of elite female gamers.” The Bully Hunters would attack harassers of women from the game with their “skills and talent.” Bully Hunters was backed by some high-profile supporters: Twitch streamer ZombiUnicorn, a spokesperson for the campaign, as well as SteelSeries, Vertagear, CyberPowerPC, the Diverse Gaming Coalition, and the National Organization for Women. Their goal was to bring more awareness of online gaming bullying. A noble goal but Bully Hunters had suspicious activities from day one.

Their debut stream showcased footage that was prerecorded, excessive promotion of their sponsor, Steel Series, and a poor statistic showcase of harassment in games.

Many sponsors stopped supporting Bully Hunters after the first stream. They began to disagree and were misled with the methods of how Bully Hunters worked. Natalie “ZombiUnicorn” Casanova was another part of Bully Hunters that was heavily scrutinized. She is a YouTube and Twitch streamer. Many tweets, streamed footage included her using homophobic slurs and using offensive language. They were spread across Twitter and social media websites to discredit her as an appropriate spokesperson. Casanova defended her responses as they were in the past, particularly the stream footage which was 6 years old. She also defended her use of foul languages as they were responses back to online harassment.

After 5 days, Bully Hunter has been disbanded. FCB Chicago announced the disbandment of the organization on April 17th. All videos, websites, and social media pages have been deleted. The Global Chief Communications officer, Brandon Cooke, stated: “As this effort did not live up to our high standards, we decided to end this program, but hope the conversation it has raised around ending harassment in gaming continues.”

Business Perspective:

Everyone can agree that the gaming community can be improved. There are different communities for different games so its impossible to target every gamer. Online competitive gaming communities are notorious for being unwelcoming to women. However, creating a group of women players to attack players was a dangerous tactic that didn’t work. The way Bully Hunters were marketed as a serious, dangerous group of females but ended up being a joke before the end of the day. It makes them too serious without proving their abilities. All talk and no action, especially since the first stream footage was revealed to be fake.

Some trolls can escalate their negative emotions through gaming. “Not only does engaging griefers and trolls validate their negative behavior, it can also backfire and antagonize them, increasing the aggression towards their targets,” said Holly Greene, an assistant editor for Paste Games and has done work on Gamasutra, Polygon, Unwinnable, and other video game news publications.

Sources:

PC Gamer – Bully Hunter Origin

PC Gamer – Bully Hunters Disband

FCB Agency

Steel Series Statement on Bully Hunters

Diverse Gamer drops Sponsorship message