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Canada Judge Rejects Unlawful Gambling Accusation Against EA in Class Action Lawsuit

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Canada judge Judge Justice Fleming said that a plaintiff’s claim that loot boxes in EA games constitutes ‘unlawful gaming’ was “bound to fail” but will allow the class-action lawsuit to move forward, according to GamesIndustry.biz.

Per the report, the lawsuit will proceed based on the accusation that loot boxes in EA games may have adopted “deceptive acts or practices”.

In the lawsuit, Mark Sutherland, the plaintiff, has accused Electronic Arts (EA) of “deceptive and unconscionable acts or practices” under British Columbia’s Business Practices and Consumer Protection Act and brought the claim on behalf of all residents in British Columbia who have paid for loot boxes in over 70 EA games since 2008.

Part of the suit alleges that by selling loot boxes, Electronic Arts (EA) has ‘engaged in unlawful gaming or gambling’ which is in breach of ‘multiple offences in Part Seven of the Criminal Code’, and while Fleming decided that Sutherland’s claim around ‘deceptive acts and practices’ may proceed, the part of the suit centered on gambling would not proceed.

Now, Sutherland has leave to amend his notice against Electronic Arts (EA), but can not “as it relates to allegations of unlawful gaming”.

“Consequently, there is no prospect of gaining, or losing, anything with a real-world value through the defendants’ in-house auctions,” Judge Fleming said. “Unlike a casino chip, virtual currency and virtual items in loot boxes can never be ‘cashed out’ to gain money.

“Given that wagering or a bet must involve the chance of winning or losing real money or money’s worth, in my view, only the allegation of purchasing and selling virtual items through third-party marketplaces could support this element” the judge continued.

“However, this allegation is unrelated to the pleading that identifies the game as the loot box and the bet or wagering as the purchase and opening of a loot box. In other words, the transaction that grounds the unlawful gaming allegation and the wagering element is the initial loot box purchase and opening.

“In any event, as the defendants emphasize, the allegation of purchasing and selling loot box items through third-party marketplaces is entirely disconnected from the class members. The same is true of the defendants. There is no pleading that class members purchased the defendants’ loot boxes for the purpose of purchasing and selling virtual items through third-party marketplaces, let alone participated in third-party marketplaces. Nor is it suggested that the defendants published, promoted, distributed or sold them for any purpose related to these marketplaces. Of course it is the defendants, not class members, who are alleged to have engaged in unlawful gaming.”

Judge Fleming concludes that the argument has “no reasonable prospect of success” but added that “A central focus of Mr Sutherland’s pleading from the outset and yet fundamentally defective both factually and legally, I would not grant leave to amend this aspect of the claim. Recognizing my gate-keeping function at this stage of the proceedings, I view striking this aspect of the claim as in the interests of effective and fair litigation.”

Electronic Arts (EA) has since responded in an official statement: “We’re pleased that the trial court rejected, as a matter of law, the allegations of unlawful gaming. The court’s decision reaffirms our position that nothing in our games constitutes gambling.”

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Epic Games Store Hits $820 Million in Player Spending During 2022

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Epic Games has officially released financial data related to it’s growing marketplace on PC, showing that $820 million was spent on the Epic Games Store during the 2022 year, and promised support for third-party subscription services and new ‘content hubs’ to help companies promote their titles.

According to the data:

The numbers

  • Total users of Epic Games Store PC: 230 million (up 19% year-on-year)
  • Epic cross-platform accounts: 732 million
  • Daily active users peak: 34.3 million
  • Monthly active users: 68 million (up 10%)
  • Total spending, incl. Epic’s games: $820 million (down 2%)
  • Spending on third-party games: $355 million (up 18%)
  • Free games claimed: 700 million
  • Number of new PC releases: 626
  • Total library of PC games: 1,548 (up 68%)

Epic Games stated on it’s blog that more PC games launched during the 2022 year than in any year prior.

Fortnite, Grand Theft Auto 5, Rocket League, Genshin Impact, and Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands were among the most popular titles related to player engagement and player spending, and Epic Games looks to deepen their focus in 2023 as they aim to improve the store launcher’s performance.

Epic Games also aims to add support for subscription services from third-party publishers and live service products by the end of the 2023 year, adding that they are also working on ‘content hubs’ which will be separate from product pages and will enable publishers to “share information with users in a robust editorial format.”

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California Judge Dismisses Gamers Lawsuit Filed Against Microsoft

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A federal judge in San Francisco has ruled that the group of 10 plaintiffs “[lacked] allegations” in their lawsuit filed last year that claimed Microsoft’s ownerships of Activision Blizzard would harm consumers and competition in the video games market, according to a filing shared by Reuters.

While US District Judge Jacqueline Corley dismissed the case, she also gave the plaintiffs 20 days to refine their lawsuit and resubmit it, and the group’s lawyer, Joseph Saveri, said that there are plans to officially submit an amended lawsuit with “additional factual detail” that will address the judge’s concerns.

It marks a victory for Microsoft, but their battles are far from over as they still face a hearing over the Federal Trade Commission’s legal complaint, which is currently slated to take place in August of this year.

Microsoft and Activision Blizzard originally expected the transaction to be complete by June 30, 2023.

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Super Evil Megacorp Expanding Team for Netflix Project

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Catalyst Black developer Super Evil Megacorp has expanded their team following the announcement of their new partnership with content streaming platform Netflix, which include new additions from big name brands like Blizzard, Ubisoft, and Rockstar Games, according to MobileGamer.biz.

These are some of the appointments:

  • Tim Hume – lead gameplay tech engineer
  • JC Simbulan – lead animator
  • Steven Goodwin – senior technical engineer
  • Jurie Horneman – lead narrative engineer
  • Cassandre Beaumier – production director
  • Milo Casali – senior level designer

Netflix’s vice president and head of external games Leanne Loombe commented on the new title in the works for Netflix.

“It’s a big bet for us and we’re very much focused on creating an ecosystem around the streaming content and the game,” Loombe said. “It’s really a transmedia play for us in this brand new IP.”

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