Take-Two has argued that virtual currencies are “fictions” in its appeal to get a lawsuit dismissed.
The company filed a motion to dismiss on February 2, 2024, hitting back at accusations of unlawful business practices related to virtual currencies being non-transferable or refundable once game servers are switched off. As GameFile reported, the firm argued that the virtual currency does not belong to the player in the first place.
“VC is not plaintiff’s property,” Take-Two’s lawyer said. “Instead, in-game VC are fictions created by game publishers, subject to the publishers’ terms of service and user agreements.
“Plaintiff’s claims to property ownership of VC within the games, as well as his suggestions that Defendants have an obligation to refund unredeemed VC or enable the transfer of VC from one of Defendants’ games to another, are merely conclusory (and wholly invented).”
The lawyer added that the plaintiff didn’t identify “any contract, law, term of sale/use, or any instrument” supporting the argument that they owned the virtual currency sold by Take-Two.
The motion to dismiss also pointed to Take-Two’s licence agreement, which states that the company has the right to “manage, regulate, control, modify, suspend, and/or eliminate” its virtual currency “as it sees fit,” unless “prohibited by applicable law.”
“All purchases of [virtual currency] and [virtual goods] are final and under no circumstances will such purchases be refundable, transferable, or exchangeable,” it also reads.
A hearing regarding the motion to dismiss will take place on March 14, 2024.
The lawsuit was filed in November against 2K Games and parent company Take-Two Interactive, with the plaintiff accusing the companies of theft and unlawful business practices across NBA 2K, WWE 2K, and PGA Tour 2K.
The plaintiff – a minor represented by their parent – argued that virtual currency should be refunded or transferred if there’s any remaining once a game is sunset. They are seeking “equitable non-monetary and monetary relief” for the in-game currency removed from a 2K Games account from November 17, 2019.
In its latest quarterly financial report in November, Take-Two reported $1.44 billion in net bookings, 75% of which came from recurrent consumer spending (including virtual currency, add-on content, in-game purchases and in-game advertising.)
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