Video game loot boxes the subject of proposed B.C. class action

A B.C. man's effort to bring a class action lawsuit against a major video game developer over its use of "loot boxes" moved slightly closer to reality this week.

A B.C. man's effort to bring a class action lawsuit against a major video game developer over its use of "loot boxes" moved slightly closer to reality this week.

In a decision issued Tuesday, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Margot L. Fleming found that some of the allegations against Electronic Arts Inc. and its subsidiary Electronic Arts (Canada) Inc. constituted a valid "cause of action" for the lawsuit. 

Fleming rejected other allegations in the lawsuit, but gave proposed representative plaintiff Mark Sutherland the opportunity to amend his claim.

Whether the lawsuit will ultimately be able to move forward as a class action remains to be decided at a later date.

The portion of Sutherland's claim that Fleming accepted centres around allegations of deceptive practices.

As summarized in the decision, his filings argue that EA misleads players of its games about the availability and scarcity of rare and valuable items in loot boxes that it encourages players to purchase using real money.

Sutherland also alleges that the company controlled the probabilities of certain items appearing in loot boxes without disclosing what those probabilities were, or without providing sufficient information about those probabilities.