After years of waiting, fans of Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto have finally gotten the chance to access the game’s Diamond Casino. This was after the game developer and publisher issued an update to its incredibly popular GTA Online gaming platform. The casino not only offers the players a whole new building to explore but also gives the opportunity to enjoy new missions, new cars, and many other new items.
When it comes to the casino games themselves, some of the titles that players will find include three-card poker, slot machines, and blackjack. All these games are certainly enough to get most casino enthusiasts on the platform very excited. GTA Online is not the first mainstream video game to implement a virtual gambling platform such as Diamond Casino – in fact, Red Dead online which is also from Rockstar Games also recently added a virtual casino and they both have picked up quite well. Their popularity largely hangs on the fact that they, in a way, allow players to gamble with real money and as expected this has raised a few eyebrows.
Since the update that introduced the casino made it mimic real-world gambling, players are allowed to buy Shark Cards using real money. Now, while there have been a ton of discussion with regards to the morality of the system, many players have actually reported that they are happy with most of the things that came with the update especially because players do not have to necessarily be stinking rich to enjoy the new stuff.
Even so, there have complaints that the game takes a lot of money or time to enjoy the new additions. As a matter of fact, compared to what players had to spend previously in order to buy items in the game, casino gaming is a relatively cheaper option. Still, the concerns pertaining to the relationship between video games and gambling still remain.
Needless to say, these concerns were spawned from instances of exploitative practices by video game companies. One of the most controversial aspects in this regard has been loot boxes.
Rockstar Playing It Safe
Rockstar is not a newcomer to the world of controversy but this time the company has chosen not to push its luck with its Diamond Casino update. By so doing, the company has blocked a number of countries from being able to access the in-game casino. Over 50 countries are currently on the blocklist and, unsurprisingly, this is due to their laws with regards to gambling. This also happened with Red Dead Online’s gambling update and it is, therefore, a sign that more and more jurisdictions are beginning to look into the matter.
That said, it is clear that the discussion that came to light due to the controversial loot boxes may have become much broader than initially anticipated. It will, therefore, be very interesting to see how things pan out along the way.
