Discussion

• @cfarivar Cyrus Farivar on x

  THREAD: This, friends, is the astonishing story of a mobile casino-style game that anyone can put unlimited amounts of money into. But here's the catch: it is actually impossible to win anything. As a result, players have lost up to $500,000 apiece. https://www.nbcnews.com/... ht…

• @mmasnick Mike Masnick on x

  People focused on Facebook and claiming that the company is evil seem to frequently ignore that there are truly evil companies out there: https://twitter.com/...

• @johnverdi John Verdi on x

  Everything I read about in-game monetization, gambling, and loot boxes convinces me that: 1) there is a reckoning coming; and 2) this book was prescient: https://www.amazon.com/... https://twitter.com/...

• @nbcnews @nbcnews on x

  “You know what I tell people? It's a cult, and they suck you in, and once you're in you can't get out,” said Joann, who asked to use only her middle name. “You want to play, and you want to spin.” https://www.nbcnews.com/...

• @karlbode Karl Bode on x

  nice work U.S. regulators ever-vigilant as always https://twitter.com/...

• @elkmovie Michael Love on x

  “One of the named plaintiffs in the settlement is Crystal Fair of Texas, who said in a sworn declaration that she has spent $500,000”- hey @tim_cook, are you giving back the $150,000 your company helped scam from this poor woman? https://twitter.com/...

• @andygrewal Andy Grewal on x

  “Shellz and her husband spent about $150,000 in the game in just two years ... “We lie in bed next to each other, we have two tablets, two phones and a computer and all these apps spinning Reel Rivals at the same time,' she said. ‘We normalize it with each other.’” https://twitte…

• @wolfiechristl Wolfie Christl on x

  “After a long legal battle, 2 million players, including Shellz and her husband, will be eligible to get a small part of their losses back — about 20 percent for those who lost $10,000 to $100,000” Whatever became of ... 2010ish ‘Facebook games’? https://www.nbcnews.com/...

• @oliviasolon Olivia Solon on x

  Devastating story from @cfarivar about those who have lost up to $400,000 playing unregulated casino-style mobile games that seem to have all the addictive traits of gambling without the potential payout https://www.nbcnews.com/...

• @smbrnsn Sam Brunson on x

  This is an absolutely heartbreaking story of a cynical business meant purely to exploit its customers. https://twitter.com/...

• @elie Elie Bursztein on x

  Casino-like “games” have drained people of millions https://www.nbcnews.com/... maybe it's time to stop calling those apps games and regulate them? #gaming #scam

• @darakerr Dara Kerr on x

  This story is bonkers. Gambling gaming apps get people to pay $$$ with addictive tactics, but players never win. That's how the apps skirt regulators. “These games are not gambling because, among other reasons, they offer no opportunity for players to win money,” said one company…

• @meprobgambling ME Problem Gambling on x

  Can you imagine getting a call from a “VIP Representative” offering free chips because you are trying to cancel your account for an online game? This is a very interesting, eye-opening article about free-to-play smartphone casino games. https://www.nbcnews.com/... via @nbcnews

• @nbcnightlynews @nbcnightlynews on x

  NBC News spoke to 21 people who said they were hooked on casino-style apps and had spent significant sums of money. The industry is almost entirely unregulated. https://www.nbcnews.com/...

• @okdistribute Karissa McKelvey on x

  Tech companies: You see, the internet is a virtual space, totally separate from reality. https://twitter.com/...