Take-Two Interactive, the parent company of the NBA 2K franchise, is being sued over accusations of theft in a class-action dispute. According to reports, the lawsuit cases is regarding complaints over microtransactions in their NBA 2K franchise.
Microtransactions are transactions made electronically while playing a video game. The term and practice have become popular over the years as team-building game modes and career-based game modes have been taken over by the ability to purchase players and attributes, among other things. Take-Two in this instance, is being sued of “theft” for these microtransactions in NBA 2K and other games, per reports.
The suit, filed on November 17th, hones in on the sale of virtual currency (VC) through modes like MyTEAM and MyCAREER. It also focuses on how you cannot transfer funds to the new games.
The suit claims that the approach is “unfair, illegal and greedy”, largely in part to the fact that old servers turn off rather quick once a new game releases.
Take-two is being accused of unfair business practices, violating California’s civil theft laws. Microtransactions are important to companies like Take-Two and are a focus for profit. They were also sued last year in Illinois over loot boxes. The case was settled through arbitration.
This is a story to keep an eye on, as it appears the legality of loot boxes is coming to an end all around the world. Soon enough, they could be deemed unlawful, and team-building game modes like MyTEAM could look very different. These consistent suits are not helping Take-Two’s fight for the legality of loot boxes.
