At the peak of the recent loot box discussion surrounding Star Wars Battlefront 2, one of the most threatening elements of that was Hawaii State Representatives Chris Lee and Sean Quinlan issuing a press conference that put out the call for government to start looking into the predatory practices used by EA and their latest Star Wars game. Now, in a recent interview with Glixel, Quinlan responded to some of the events that happened in the wake of the whole controversy.
Quinlan adresses the different organizations such as the ESRB that concluded that Loot Boxes are not, by legal definition, gambling, believing that the effect is so close in how it effects psychology, and believes strongly that EA will try the tactic again, believing their audience has a short memory.
“I think the mechanism is so close to gambling, when we talk about psychology and the way addiction and reward works, I think whether or not it means the strict definition of gambling, it’s close enough and the impact is close enough,” Quinlan stated.
Quinlan will continue to make a point to stay on top of the loot box discussion, calling it an important issue as a fan who’s seen EA take down some of his favourite studios and franchises. Quinlan and Lee have already approached Attorney General Doug Chin for an official opinion, and await his answer. In the meantime, it seems EA might have tried again far sooner than anyone would have thought.