Video game developer Epic Games has issued a public denial regarding recent accusations that new user-created experiences in Fortnite have introduced gambling mechanics.
feature for developers to implement “paid random items”
Epic stated that its Developer Rules strictly prohibit “gambling content, raffles, or casino-style games.” The rebuttal reported by Insider Gaming stems from recent allegations that Fortnite’s additions include a feature for developers to implement “paid random items” within the game’s creator tools.
Epic, however, argues that the said random items are not the same as gambling.
Critics aren’t having it. Industry insiders instead state that the required element of paying in real money or cryptocurrency for a randomized reward, albeit with a by-law disclosure of stated odds, functionally constitutes gambling.
A loot box, in other words.
Despite Epic’s denial, evidence of “paid random items” in its multi-billion-dollar annual revenue game will keep the legal and ethical debate over Fortnite’s monetization strategy raging on. Epic CEO Tim Sweeney, meanwhile, will likely rue the day in 2020 when he gave a talk at the DICE summit in Las Vegas and declared that loot boxes in video games were like gambling on slot machines, and that Fortnite would never implement any pay-to-win mechanisms while he was CEO.
