Blizzard May Be Facing Class-Action Lawsuit Over Hearthstone Card Packs

gamerant.com:

Microtransactions in video games have long been a subject of contention, with many people not really having a problem with them and others considering their introduction to have been incredibly detrimental for gamers. For some, the inclusion of intrusive monetization schemes can be a deciding factor in making a purchase, and players don’t hesitate to protest when a game is full of microtransactions like Chocobo GP or Gran Turismo 7. Now Blizzard, a company that makes a substantial profit from its monetization models, may be hit with a class-action lawsuit over the practice.

Companies facing unhappy customers and even lawsuits over their monetization choices is not new. In March, one player filed a $5 million lawsuit against Take-Two Interactive for what they consider to be over-the-top microtransactions in NBA 2K22. And Blizzard itself had to contend with another potential lawsuit in 2019, this time over the loot boxes offered in Overwatch. In March of this year, a California court decided that the case, which involved a minor, wouldn’t go to court.

Hearthstone Players Are Unhappy With New $25 Diamond Card

Similarly, another case revolving around a child and monetization is now in the works. An Arizona man, Nathan Harris, has proposed a class-action lawsuit over the card pack microtransactions in Hearthstone. According to the complaint, Harris’ daughter spent over $300 from 2019 to 2021 buying card packs in the game, using her father’s linked credit and debit cards without his knowledge or consent. The lawsuit contends that the child did not understand the low odds of pulling good cards and did not know that the money spent was non-refundable. Furthermore, Harris states that his daughter “almost never received any valuable