Nintendo is being sued over "immoral" Mario Kart Tour loot boxes

An unidentified boy, with assistance from his father, has filed a class action lawsuit against the gaming giant over Mario Kart Tour’s now-removed lootbox system.

The details:

• According to Axios, the child filed the lawsuit in early May with the help of his father regarding the "Spotlight Pipes" lootboxes, which allowed players to spend the game's premium currency, Rubies, in exchange for randomized rewards with unknown odds. The minor also claims to have spent more than $170 on his parent's credit card, which was linked to his Nintendo account and demands that Nintendo refund minors in the United States who used the system.
• The lawsuit claims that lootboxes "capitalized on and encouraged addictive behaviors akin to gambling" and that minors, such as the one behind the lawsuit, were vulnerable to "addiction-enhancing elements of game design," with the "experience of acquiring surprise rewards and the associated excitement of uncovering unexpected in-game items holding a strong appeal for minors and reinforcing their desire to keep playing and keep getting rewards.”
• The suit also alleges that the developers purposefully made the game difficult to play past a certain point without paying for in-game items, employing "dark patterns," which may violate Washington State's Consumer Protection Act and California business law.
• After years of controversy, Nintendo removed the gacha-style system from the game in September 2022, replacing it with a rotating in-game shop that is becoming an increasingly common alternative to lootboxes. Despite this, the game has continued to bring in a sizable portion of revenue for the company, as it is one of its highest-grossing mobile games on the market, despite the fact that a large portion of fans dislikes the title.

More Nintendo news:

• Pac-Man 99, Nintendo Switch Online's free-to-play battle royale, will be discontinued in August 2023. The game's DLC content will be delisted first, with the title's online servers shutting down in October. It will remain playable offline for those who purchased it prior to the shutdown date.
• The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is now the fastest-selling Zelda game of all time, selling 10 million units in the first three days. It is also the second-best-selling Zelda title, trailing only its predecessor, Breath of the Wild, which sold 30 million copies over six years.