Epic is set to resolve a class action lawsuit over the use of random cash withdrawals in Fifteen days“Save the world” mode, paying affected players with the game’s currency. Rocket League players who purchased loot boxes earlier in that game will also receive an in-game payment.
Although Epic has never offered cashiers in Fifteen daysmega-popular Battle Royale mode, it allowed “Save the World” players to buy “loot llamas” full of random items until early 2019 (amid international protests over the random loot box business and its resemblance to the game). Shortly after ending the practice, Epic faced a class action claim claiming, among other things, that it had “psychologically manipulated[d] its young players think they ‘will be lucky’. ”
Under a proposed deal for that process, which Epic says has obtained preliminary approval, all players who purchased a looted llama at any time will be rewarded with 1,000 V-Bucks (worth approximately $ 8). Although it is closing a lawsuit in the United States, Epic says the same agreement will apply to everyone Fifteen days players globally.
Rocket League players will also receive 1,000 credits (worth approximately $ 9.10) if they purchased a random event box or key in that game before Epic stopped offering them in October 2019 (a few months after purchase Rocket League developer Psyonix). Players from both games will not have to do anything to claim the benefit, which will appear in their accounts in the coming days.
A marketing bargain?
Epic estimates about 6.5 million Fifteen days players and 2.9 million Rocket League players will receive automatic payments in virtual currency, according to The Verge. This suggests an approximate valuation of more than $ 78.3 million in digital reward payments as part of the deal.
The actual cost incurred by Epic for the draw is likely to end up much less, however. Distributing the purely virtual currency incurs minimal direct costs for Epic and only represents an indirect cost in the sense that it replaces the purchases of virtual currency that those players would have made anyway. Some lost players end up not using their digital luck, while others would not spend any additional money on the game anyway.
In a way, the digital draw can even be seen as an effective promotion, attracting players back to the games and creating the potential for them to spend more on additional microtransactions in the future. In that sense, the agreement somewhat resembles a case of Nintendo pricing that the company arranged with promoters in 1991. The payment came in the form of a $ 5 coupon that could only be redeemed with the purchase of additional Nintendo products , a marketing scam that Nintendo is probably saddened at not having come up alone.
In addition to virtual currency, Epic will also provide “up to $ 26.5 million in cash and other benefits for US based Fifteen days and Rocket League players “to settle claims. These cash payments (up to $ 50 per claimant) will only be available to players who submit an active claim form stating that they think their purchase constituted” consumer fraud “or breach of contract. Minors in California who bought a cashier “with [their] own money without parental permission “will also be eligible for a cash refund of up to $ 50 if they file a claim.
“We believe that players should know in advance what they are paying when making in-game purchases,” Epic wrote in a tweet announcing the change today. “That’s why today we only offer X-Ray Llamas that show content before you buy it on ‘Save the World'” (and equally transparent projects in Rocket League)
While some European countries have banned cashiers as a form of illegal gambling, legislative efforts to regulate the practice in some U.S. states (and the U.S. Senate) have generally stalled after gaining some momentum in 2018 and 2019.