Following a ruling from a Dutch court, a penalty from the Kansspelautoriteit (KSA), the Dutch gambling authority, to leading games studio EA has been revoked. The judgement that loot boxes did not constitute gambling was handed down by the Administrative Division of the Council of State.
The KSA had initially delivered a penalty of €250,000 (approx. £210,000) in October 2019. They claimed that EA had violated the Dutch Gaming Act through the video game FIFA.
They claimed that the acquisition and trade of loot boxes and player packs within the game’s system could be considered gambling as these items do hold economic value. Players would also have no idea as to what was inside these packs until they chose to buy them.
Though EA’s initial appeals were dismissed, the company appealed to the Administrative Jurisdiction Division in November 2021. They argued that these items were not gambling products as stipulated by the Dutch Gaming Act as they are part of the wider game, not available separately, and cannot be converted back into cash.
The court chose to side with EA and ruled that the corporation did not have to comply with the penalty.
Most crucially, they also ruled that loot boxes do not constitute gambling. This has been a hotly debated topic over the past few years, and this ruling could bring precedent to others in the future.
