A California parent, Rebecca Taylor, has filed a class-action lawsuit against Apple, accusing the tech giant of enabling underage gambling by permitting games with loot box systems in its app marketplace.
The lawsuit was filed on Tuesday in a US federal court in California.
Taylor’s argument focuses on the fact that Apple’s disclosures for loot boxes resemble those used for recognized gambling products.
“Even Apple itself suggests that loot boxes in its App Store games are a form of gambling,” the lawsuit alleges. “Like the California State Lottery, Apple mandates its app developers to disclose the ‘odds of winning specific items’ in loot boxes in the games they distribute.”
The lawsuit is a significant development in the ongoing debate over the ethical implications of loot boxes in video games.
