This article originally ran under a different banner/website in August of 2019 and is now being here re-uploaded for purposes of convenience and consolidation. Please enjoy.
HEAR YE!!! HEAR YE!!! LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!!! I COME TO YOU ALL SEETHING WITH FRUSTRATION. I, the Video Game Doomsayer, had my whole speech laid out. I was prepared to deliver my confused and bewildered opinion on Wolfenstein II but as this story made its way through the grapevine, I knew I could not remain silent. Once again, I have been called to arms to address the latest controversy the games industry has hastily cooked up. With collector’s editions, multiple tier editions, season passes, expansion passes, and free-to-play economies not being enough for this ravenous industry, they have set their sights on a new way to make more and more money. TODAY I WOULD LIKE TO TALK ABOUT THE GAMES INDUSTRY AND THEIR NEW FOUND LOVE WITH GAMBLING.
It has been no secret that the games industry has been making googly eyes at gambling. It has been as subtle as an awkward teenager eyeing the old rougher guy whose been held back too many times. It had made flirtatious moves with loot boxes, exploiting both customers and the law. While many have and still argue that loot boxes technically do not fall under the legal definition of gambling, there is an overwhelming amount of scientific data that supports the idea that loot boxes have similar psychological effects as gambling. Grown tired of not being noticed by gambling, the games industry has made the divisive decision that this would be the year it and gambling would have a sloppy makeout session under the bleachers.
After months and months of trying to sell the idea that loot boxes aren’t gambling, Rockstar Games decided to drop the charade and erect a momentum to unchecked spending with the Diamond Casino. Rockstar Games announced the Diamond Casino would be coming to Grand Theft Auto Online on July 23, where you can use real money to purchase a fake currency to gamble away with. Like with many of the predatory microtransactions plaguing the industry, the game industry is able to skirt the line between gambling and not gambling by having players purchase currency instead of using real money and providing a payout of that fake currency. In countries with strict gambling laws, Rockstar has either disabled the ability to purchase the fake currency or the casino altogether, most likely to avoid legal action. A tacit admission that Rockstar knows the Diamond Casino is crossing the line.
Initially, I wrote of the story just as tacky and tasteless in a time where you can trip over stories of kids emptying their parent’s bank account over FIFA or Fortnite. Rockstar was prepared for the criticisms and took steps that many games riddled with microtransactions don’t take. Rockstar placed a hard limit on how much a player can gamble away in a way to control potential problem gamblers. GTA Online is also rated M for mature. While that does not prevent every child from getting their hands on the crime sandbox, I imagine a child having a harder time convincing a responsible adult to purchase the game for them. It certainly felt there were more safety nets in check than in most games that tug on your sleeve for more cash. Again, a tacky and tasteless move that, at the time, didn’t warrant shouting about atop my soapbox. However, nothing in the games industry exists in a bubble, and I and many other pundits had a feeling that Rockstar wouldn’t be the only ones to try this gambit. And we were right.
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!!! I PRESENT TO YOU: NBA 2K20!!! THE CASINO GAME WITH HINT OF BASKETBALL!!! On August 26, publisher 2K released a trailer that showed the games industry’s lust for gambling. With the first ten seconds, we see more of the loot box systems than actual basketball. The trailer continues to show off plinko machines, roulette wheels, and slot machines. Naturally, you can see, so-called fans of NBA 2K20, cheering as they win big in these roulette wheels and slot machines. You can even see one fan winning the coveted rare LeBron James card. Flashing lights, cheering of fans, and the promise of success with every spin of the wheel. This is all smoke and mirrors of course.
Well, my loyal followers, I am here to inform you this trailer, this fantasy of always winning in these games of chance, is all merely an illusion. It has been revealed through studies that game publishers will adjust the odds of winning rare and legendary items when they are being shown off for an audience. Not only increasing the odds of winning in these trailers but also increase the odds of loyal NBA 2K YouTubers and streamers so their audience is more likely to feel like they would have the same success. However, the odds are not in your favor. With the push to have the odds of loot boxes publicly displayed, EA revealed the chance of getting a player rated 85 or above in FIFA 2019 to be 4.3 percent, and the chance of getting a Ones to Watch players was less than one percent. Showcasing a player unlocking the LeBron James card is almost underhanded as any of the tricks Mysterio has pulled on Spiderman.
What truly makes this dangerous is how much closer to gambling it is without having any of the rules and regulations casinos have to adhere to. For starters, casinos are required to have a minimum payback. It would be unfair if every slot machine in the casino had no chance of winning, as a result, the state sets a percent that a game of chance has to pay back. Video games are under no such scrutiny and due to most games having a constant internet connection, publishers can tweak the odds with the snap of a finger. Also, children and toddlers are not allowed to set foot on casino floors. Now one would assume that the games industry would try to mirror that rule. As I stated earlier, I gave GTA Online a free pass since it was rated M for mature. Naturally, NBA 2K20 would be rated M for having gambling mechanics, right? WRONG!!! NBA 2K20 is rated E for Everyone and rated for kids 3 and up in Europe.
Surely, this must be a mistake. If one were to go to the ESRB website and look at the version ratings the ESRB could give, one would see the Teen rating. The Teen rating is given to games for violence, crude language, crude humor, and SIMULATED GAMBLING. Clearly, the rating board, the ESRB, and PEGI must have been given a version of the game without the casino bits. In my attempts to be more of a journalist than a rambling mad man, I contacted the ESRB to see how they felt about the trailer. At this time, they have not commented. PEGI has commented on the discourse though:
“It is important to stress that the controversial imagery played a central role in the trailer, but it may not necessarily do so in the game, which has not yet been released. At this point in time, PEGI can only comment on the trailer that has been made publicly available. The trailer includes imagery that is generally known from casinos (wheel of fortune, slot machines). Using this sort of mechanic to select an item, or character, or action by chance is not the same as teaching how to gamble for money in a casino. These differences currently prevent us from applying the gambling descriptor. But we are very aware that it may get too close for comfort for some people, and that is part of an internal discussion that PEGI is having for the moment. The games industry is evolving constantly (and rapidly in recent years). As a rating organization, we need to ensure that these developments are reflected in our classification criteria. We do not base our decisions on the content of a single trailer, but we will properly assess how the rating system (and the video games industry in general) should address these concerns.”
-PEGI Communications Affairs
This proves to me that my theory of the ratings boards being mere puppets for the games industry. Find that unlikely? Let me introduce you to Strauss Zelnick, CEO of Take-Two Interactive, which is the parent company to 2K Games. He is also a chairman of the Entertainment Software Association, a trade association that directly oversees the ESRB. While I have no hard proof Zelnick directly influenced both the ESA and PEGI to believe NBA 2K20 does not contain gambling, it does benefit him to have both organizations believe it so. With NBA 2K20 being rated E for Everyone here in the US and rated ages 3 and up in Europe, Zelnick has a high chance of getting kids to fall into the trapping gambling-like behaviors. Unsurprisingly, Take-Two Interactive is the parent company for Rockstar Games. Making the message clear: Zelnick wants you and your children to gamble your money away.
The games industry has become so greedy they are willing to cross any moral or ethical lines to be able to swan dive into a pit of gold coins. They cling to the idea that loot boxes and in-game slot machines don’t follow the exact word-for-word definition of gambling, allowing them to get off on a technicality. Games under this vanguard are being devolved down from an interactive form of entertainment into glorified slot machines. All to appease the dragons sitting upon their hoard of gold. The medium is being broken and bastardized into a monster that I fail to recognize and it has to stop. With so many stories depicting children or problem gamblers emptying bank accounts just to get the legendary Lionel Messi card, politicians have begun eyeing these stories and are looking to drop the ax on these predatory practices. I, for one, don’t wish government intervention, but I will not weep when it occurs. I have been here, standing atop my soapbox, calling for the games industry to change its ways. My cries have fallen on deaf ears though as publishers aren’t even hiding the fact that sixty bucks aren’t enough for them. So I appeal to you, my loyal followers. DO NOT BUY NBA 2K20! DO NOT BUY ANY GAME WITH MICROTRANSACTIONS OR GAMBLING MECHANICS! SHOUT FROM THE TOP OF YOUR LUNGS … THE END OF THE GAMES INDUSTRY IS NIGH!!!