According to Bloomberg, Take-Two Interactive faces a class-action lawsuit over its "NBA 2K" series of games for its in-card purchase system, which is suspected of selling gambling-related goods to minors, with a deceptive and misleading nature. The plaintiff, a minor, was sued by his guardian for at least $5 million in damages from Take-Two Interactive.
The lawsuit alleges that players thought they would get a full gaming experience after purchasing the game, but found that the game was full of various in-app purchases, and these in-app purchases were almost necessary for players who wanted to compete and improve in the game. Not only that, in-app purchases require players to buy through virtual currencies in the game, which can be obtained by playing the game, but that will consume a lot of time and effort, so players have to buy these virtual currencies.
In addition, the official will also provide discounts on large purchases of these virtual currencies, which the plaintiffs believe may cause players to buy much more than they need.
The plaintiffs argued that these unboxing behaviors psychologically distanced players from real-life game spending, and that such transactions were particularly attractive to minors who might not understand the impact of virtual currencies in the real world. These transactions are usually made with a parent's credit card, while minors often don't know that what they buy is non-refundable. In addition, the draw in-card purchase system, because of its randomly generated items and hidden odds, also induces players to over-spend in order to get the desired items or cards.
The plaintiffs allege that Take-two's unfair, deceptive and unlawful conduct, including illegal gambling, had deceived, misled and harmed consumers. A take-Two spokesperson would currently decline to comment.
In recent years, the card-drawn in-app purchase system has been controversial in the gaming industry, with opponents saying that in-game purchases may be equivalent to gambling, inducing minors to over-consume. For some games, in-game purchases are also a huge source of revenue for related companies. A Juniper Networks study released last year estimated that the card-drawn in-app purchase system generated $15 billion in revenue in 2020 and is expected to reach $20.3 billion in 2025.