A Brazilian court has ordered Apple and several other companies to pay nearly $60 million over loot boxes in games accessible to minors. Here are the details.
As reported by Times Brasil, the 1st Court for Children and Youth of Brazil’s Federal District has ordered Apple and several other companies to pay R$298 million ($58.7 million) in collective moral damages over loot boxes accessible to minors in the country.
From Times Brasil (translation ours):
According to the court, the model resembles a form of gambling and exposes children and adolescents to the risk of compulsive behavior and commercial exploitation. The ruling recognizes that protections for children were already established under Brazil’s Federal Constitution, the Child and Adolescent Statute, and the Consumer Protection Code, regardless of any later specific regulation on the matter.
Apple, Microsoft, and Tencent were each ordered to pay R$50 million, or about $9.8 million. Google, Sony, Electronic Arts, Riot Games, Ubisoft, Valve, Konami, and Nintendo were ordered to pay smaller amounts, ranging from R$40 million (about $7.8 million) to R$5 million (about $1 million).
The court also determined that, in addition to the damages reward, which will be directed to the Federal District’s Fund for the Rights of Children and Adolescents, minors who acquired or accessed loot boxes are entitled to individual compensation.
From Times Brasil (translation ours):
In addition to the collective damages awards, the rulings recognize the right of children and adolescents who used, purchased, or opened loot boxes in the games at issue to seek individual compensation. Each claimant will have to prove, in a separate damages phase, that they were a victim, establish their connection to the practice deemed unlawful, and show the extent of the harm suffered.
Additionally, the court ordered the companies to make a series of changes to how loot boxes are promoted, presented, and accessed in games in Brazil.
Those include creating a system to refund purchases made by minors without parental approval, implementing age-verification tools to prevent minors from accessing loot boxes, displaying clear warnings about the random nature of the rewards, and providing “probabilistic transparency” by disclosing the odds of obtaining each item.
The companies can still appeal the decision. 9to5Mac has reached out to Apple for comment and will update this story if we hear back.
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