Late last year, Nintendo removed gacha elements from its mobile racing game Mario Kart Tour. He replaced this system where players would “shoot” a barrel to get a random item with the ‘Spotlight Shop’.
Although the item system has already been updated, Axios reports a young gamer (with his father’s approval) has filed a lawsuit in the US against the video game giant over alleged “immoral” microtransactions within the mobile racer.
The lawsuit was originally filed at the state level in March and entered the federal system last week. Here are the details, courtesy of the source:
“The lawsuit seeks refunds for all minors in the U.S. who paid to use Mario Kart Tour’s “Spotlight Pipes,” which delivered in-game prizes to players using undisclosed odds. Until last year, Mario Kart Tour players could spend real money to repeatedly activating the pipe, in hopes of randomly producing useful upgrades… His accuser, identified as NA, spent more than $170 on Mario Kart Tour microtransactions, via his father’s credit card, which was linked to their Nintendo account.”
It claims that Nintendo “intentionally” made it harder to continue the game without paying – using “dark patterns (essentially encouraging players to spend more). The lawsuit goes on to mention that the loot box mechanism within Mario Kart Tour reinforced addictive behaviors – comparing it to by gambling.
As noted by Axios, these practices allegedly violate the Washington State Consumer Protection Act and California Business Law.