In EA’s quarterly earnings conference call there were various statements from Chief Executive Officer Andrew Wilson and Chief Financial Officer Blake Jorgensen about Disney, fake news, loot-boxes and microtransactions… including the latter two items not being a form of gambling.
The following information regarding Chief Executive Officer Andrew Wilson and Chief Financial Officer Blake Jorgensen’s views come from investor.ea.com.
Deep into the quarterly earnings conference call Wilson and Jorgensen were asked if Disney has a negative or positive outlook on loot-boxes. Wilson alluded to media talk about Disney’s outlook on EA and the loot-box fiasco is pretty much fake news:
“We shouldn’t believe everything that we read in the press.”
Wilson went on to say that EA has a “tremendous relationship with Disney” and they “have been very proactive in that relationship in service of the players.” In other words, Wilson is saying that Disney is proud of Star Wars Battlefront 2’s loot-box and microtransaction service.
Furthermore, Wilson noted that EA is confident about making the right model for their players and community, and that they’ll get Disney’s support on that model.
Before letting Jorgenson take the spotlight, Wilson continued that the big learning curve is that “there is no one size fits all” when it comes to microtransactions. Additionally, he said the critical point remains to provide “a fair playing field in which players feel that they have choice.”
Letting Jorgensen take over, he made mention that EA doesn’t believe that loot-boxes or microtransactions are a form of gambling, and there are plenty of governments around the world that agree with that statement.
In addition to the above, Jorgensen said that it’s not just EA, but the entire games industry that thinks this way. EA is said by the two (Wilson and Jorgensen) to work very closely with all industry partners and the ESA to make sure that people understand that loot-boxes and microtransactions are not a form of gambling.
The two also agreed that there is a lot of consumers/gamers that agree with this stance, based on “great experiences” achieved through games that feature live services with said monetization practices.
As it stands right now, Democratic member of the Hawaii House of Representatives, Chris Lee, and Washington state senator, Keven Ranker, oppose the publisher’s stance. Both Lee and Ranker believe that this practice is predatory and are currently looking to regulate said live-service after Star Wars Battlefront 2’s MTX demonstration.
