Well, there are plenty of consumer rights involved with this.

In fact, I'd argue that the fact that it is a crappy game ties into that.

It was designed to be a grinding slog that slowly tortures you until you pay money through microtransactions. Some of the crappy-ness (such as the fact that it is a bug riddled mess) is just a side dish of negligence since they focused on making money first, turning this into a true shovelware game.

There is also the fact that it sneaks in gambling. Lets not argue semantics with that- you are paying real money on a chance between getting a jackpot and getting your room and steak comp'd by the casino since you lost so much at the poker table.

Outrage is actually the appropriate reaction to this. Because we have long seen what EA does- it sneaks every single nickle and dime stunt it feels it can get away with. And the rest of the game industry is following suit. Outrage gets shareholders antsy, and helps pull in the reins on this shit. Particularly when EA has to worry about Disney breathing down its neck. Maybe other game publishers might shy away from this pseudo gambling trend after seeing that cautionary tale.

Or maybe it scares the ESRB into taking action, since their entire existence is about trying to do self regulation before governments step in (and some governments have started giving this shitty game a stern look…)

Comparing apples to oranges.