Selling Booster Packs to Kids = Federal Crime?

Clickbait, though my question is somewhat serious: I’m curious how the whole discussion around lootboxes and gambling for kids has been percieved around the world.
The whole “trading cards=gambling?” story is probably as old as the earliest sports cards, but do you guys think the outcome could change with the debate around lootboxes and their ban in some countries in mind?

Politicians argued that lootboxes are gambling for kids, while video game industry representatives claimed that they are no different to trading cards. Well, that defense did not work in Belgium, but the comparison has stuck and will be discussed further.

Another aspect: Digital boosters in MTG Arena cost real money and contain random cards, while the codes for digital Pokemon packs are inserted into the real ones. Will we see two versions of Pokemon boosters, with Rated-R ones containing code cards sitting next to cigarettes and liquor? :stuck_out_tongue:

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The reason the whole lootbox thing was brought into light was because of EA games for star wars battlefront 2. The game had a literal pay to win model where unless you lived on the game you didn’t have the same advantages as players who pumped money into the game.

The reason games such as hearthstone/pokemon/mtg etc aren’t under the same light is because theres either a way to get the cards you need through grinding or because theres a secondary market that allows you to bypass the secondary market. Star wars had no way to guarantee something you needed.

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From my perspective, loot boxes are a bit more of a gamble since you don’t know what the nature of the items inside are. With boosters you are buying “9 additional game cards” and that’s what you get.

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If booster packs are loot boxes then so are bags of skittles. Damn skittles ripping me off with disproportionate purples and reds when I want green, yellow, and oranges.

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This is anecdotal but I recall seeing something on an MTG article/video mentioning that since TCGs don’t acknowledge the secondary market and therefore don’t acknowledge the aftermarket value of their products, it isn’t considered gambling. As soon as they mention potential value or something it becomes gambling.

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Whoa, i feel old here because I have no idea what a lootbox is haha

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I’ve played enough fifa and madden ultimate team since 2010. Do not compare Pokemon to EA. That’s a damn insult for any of us who have played those games which are actually predatory and sucker kids into gambling thousands of their parents dollars

Also I’ve stopped playing both of those games in the past few years since I hate their model of micro transactions and the game quality has gone down even further year after year while the amount of P2W has risen year after year. Last time I actually spent money on an ultimate team was(funny enough) 2012