Google Class Action Says ‘Loot Boxes’ Are Misleading

A game player and the parent of a minor game player have a filed a class action lawsuit challenging Google’s use of in-game purchases.

According to the parents, these in-game purchases are addictive and presented in a way that mimics the attraction of gambling. 

The Google in-game purchases class action lawsuit was filed by John Coffee, who says that he plays Google games that encourage him to make in-game purchases. He is joined by Mei-Ling Montanez, the mother of SM, a minor who plays games that similarly encourage players to make in-game purchases. Coffee and Montanez aim to hold Google accountable for what they say is economic injury. 

Coffee is a California resident who says that he has played Final Fantasy Brave Exvius since around 2018. He says that he plays this and other games sold and/or distributed by Google.

Allegedly, in the course of playing these games, he has been encouraged to spend money on in-game purchases. He says that these purchases come in the form of “Loot Boxes.” 

Montanez is a New York resident who says that she is the parent and legal guardian of SM, a minor. Allegedly, her son has owned and played Dragon Ball Z and other games since at least 2019.

Montanez says that her son has spent his parents’ money and possibly his own money making in-game purchases like Loot Boxes. Montanez says that her son has spent more than $100 on in-game purchases. 

According to the Google class action lawsuit, Google sells “loot boxes” or “loot crates.” Allegedly, these function like a lottery, because a customer can buy a loot box or a loot crate, which gives them the chance to receive randomized virtual items. The attraction of these purchases is that users have the chance to win particularly valuable items. 

Coffee and Montanez challenge Google’s tactic for enticing customers into making online purchases, liking them to gambling tactics that play on a user’s impulses. The plaintiffs explain that Google offers many of its games for free to download. However, Google still makes millions of dollars off of these games by selling in-game purchases, argues the Google Loot Box class action lawsuit.

The Google in-game purchases class action lawsuit asserts that Google itself acknowledges that the Loot Boxes in some games are a form of gambling. Allegedly, Google requires that its App Developers disclose the odds of winning various Loot Box items to people who purchase them.

In particular, the Google loot class action lawsuit challenges Google’s involvement of children in the loot box profit model. Allegedly, Google markets, sells, or distributes games to children that have Loot Boxes in them, preying on children’s vulnerability, lack of understanding of cost, and lack of impulse control.

Though Google does not create the games in question, it does reportedly profit from its developer’s production of the games, because it takes 30% of all money spent by players of the games. 

Montanez and Coffee note that when customers make in-game purchases of Loot Boxes, their payment information is from the Google Play store is used. Allegedly, the payments go directly to Google, and then Google gives 70% of the total amount to the developer while keeping 30%. 

The Google Play in-game purchases class action lawsuit says that Loot Boxes can only be purchased using an Android device linked to Google Play.

The game entices customers into making these purchases by advertising the Loot Boxes in the terms of a virtual money system, as opposed to dollars, say the users.

This has the effect of distancing the customer from their purchase — Coffee and Montanez explain that the users first purchase currency in the game, with which they then purchase the Loot Boxes. However, these purchases are made with real money.

Experts say the randomized nature of loot boxes make them very attractive to purchasers, much like gambling. They state that this element, when combined with the surreal element of purchasing items with what appears to be a fake currency, serves to disconnect the user from the implications of their purchases.

Allegedly, this environment leads players to make more in-game purchases than they otherwise would.

Apple has also faced a recent class action over similar claims. 

Do you make in-game purchases? Share your experiences in the comments below.

The plaintiffs are represented by Timothy G. Blood and Thomas J. O’Reardon II of Blood Hurst & O’Reardon LLP.

The Google Loot Box In-Game Purchase Class Action Lawsuit is John Coffee, et al. v. Google LLC, Case No. 5:20-cv-03901, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. 

Read More Lawsuit & Settlement News:

InterContinental Hotel Data Breach Class Action Settlement

Contaminated Juul Pods Pose Serious Risk to Users

Google Shopping Class Action Says Pine-Sol’s Germ Killing Ad Is Deceptive

Teen Juul Addiction Becoming More Widespread