From Forbes:
EA share prices have fallen 8.5% month-to-date, wiping out $3.1 billion in shareholder value in the process, all thanks to backlash over Star Wars: Battlefront II loot boxes.If interested see also "Gambling, Investing and Gaming Loot Boxes".
The giant video game publisher is still having a banner year, with shares up 39% year-to-date, but there's no doubt that the backlash, combined with EA's decision to remove paid loot boxes from the game just hours before launch, rattled shareholders.
For one thing, it's unclear where EA goes from here, not just in its re-implementation of loot boxes in Star Wars: Battlefront II, but in terms of its larger micro-transaction strategy across all its games and franchises.
More troubling from an industry standpoint is the new threat of government involvement thanks to gambling concerns. Politicians in Europe and the United States are now paying closer attention to loot boxes than ever before, and the threat of government regulation looms.
"Battlefront II is the pointy tip of the iceberg," Cowen analyst Doug Creutz wrote in a note to clients Monday. "The biggest recent controversy has centered around EA's Star Wars Battlefront II, where early evidence suggests player anger over a mishandled loot box economy may in fact be impacting initial sales. We think the time has come for the industry to collectively establish a set of standards for MTX implementation, both to repair damaged player perceptions and avoid the threat of regulation."...MORE
And I hereby acknowledge I owe patient reader part II of same.
Though no promises as to delivery date.
