Last Friday, a proposed class action lawsuit was filed with the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. It alleges that Apple allows games with loot boxes on the App Store, a mechanic that constitutes gambling thus violating California law.
The lawsuit was spotted by Apple Insider.
“A large percentage of Apple’s revenues from App Store games come from the in-game purchases of what are known in the gaming industry as loot boxes or loot crates,” claims a plaintiff, Rebecca Taylor. “Dozens (if not hundreds) of App Store games rely on some form of Loot Box or similar gambling mechanism to generate billions of dollars, much of it from kids.”
According to Taylor, her son has spent at least $25 in iTunes gift cards and his parents’ money on loot boxes for Supercell’s Brawl Stars.
Other titles mentioned in the complaint include Mario Kart Tour, FIFA Soccer, and Roblox. Apple, according to the plaintiff, is guilty of not requiring devs to include a loot box notice in game descriptions.
The lawsuit underscores the ongoing industry-wide debate on the legality of loot boxes in video games.