It seems like yet another country is taking a close look at how loot boxes fit with current law, as Brazilian authorities have accepted a request to investigate and potentially ban the controversial microtransactions.
The inquiry comes in response to a recommendation by the National Association of Child and Adolescent Defense Centers (ANCED), which has filed several lawsuits against game companies over their use of loot boxes. ANCED argues that loot boxes are a harmful form of gambling – a banned activity in Brazil (via The Esports Observer).
Brazilian website The Enemy had access to the legal process involving publisher Garena (known for mobile battle royale game Free Fire), and reported that companies including Activision, Electronic Arts, Riot Games, Nintendo, Konami, Valve, Ubisoft, Tencent, Microsoft, Apple, Google, and Sony have been cited in the lawsuit. ANCED is apparently asking for Free Fire’s loot boxes to be suspended until their use by children and adolescents can be properly evaluated, with a daily penalty of $4m real (£517k) for Garena if it fails to comply. It’s also asking for $1.5bn real (£193m) in compensation from Garena, and individual compensation of $1000 real (£130) for each child or adolescent user of its games.
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