EA: Loot boxes actually “surprise mechanics” that are “ethical and fun”

Enlarge / If this image seems irrelevant to the story, may I suggest you need to catch up on your “Spaceship Surprise” viewing. (credit: YouTube / Sesame Street)

Representatives from EA and Epic Games spoke in front of a UK parliamentary panel Wednesday (transcript). They were there to defend the game industry against charges of addictive game mechanics and encouragement of gambling via loot boxes. But at least one of those representatives took issue with the basic premise that randomized item purchases should be labeled as “loot boxes” in the first place.

“That is what we look at as ‘surprise mechanics,'” EA Legal and Government Affairs VP Kerry Hopkins told the panel when asked about the ethics of loot boxes. “It is important to look at this. If you go to—I don’t know what your version of Target is—a store that sells a lot of toys and you do a search for surprise toys, you will find that this is something people enjoy. They enjoy surprises. It is something that has been part of toys for years, whether it is Kinder eggs or Hatchimals or LOL Surprise!”

As implemented in a game like FIFA, Hopkins went on to argue that these surprise mechanics are “quite ethical and fun [and] enjoyable to people… We think it is like many other products that people enjoy in a very healthy way. They like the element of surprise.