(Newswire.net — March 10, 2018) —
New Regulations for In-Game Purchases
Following the furore about loot boxes and other in-app purchases in November 2017, the Entertainment Software Rating Board has agreed to put new warning labels on video games that allow these transactions.
Loot boxes are considered by many to be as much a form of gambling as visiting an online casino is, and Hawaii is among the first states to formally propose bills that restrict them. Other states include Washington and Illinois, and Hawaii State Rep. Chris Lee, the driving force behind the new bills in the Aloha State, anticipates many more introducing their own bills in their respective legislative seasons for 2018.
Simpler at State Legislature Level
While loot boxes have been drawing ire for some time, a co-ordinated effort to pass laws in Congress is much harder to effect than state rulings are. Pushing for hearings or legislation at the congressional level has certainly not been ruled out, but for the moment the softer approach is being adopted. If the response of the Entertainment Software Rating Board in Hawaii is deemed sufficient, it may not need to go to any higher levels and could set the example for other states.
Proposed Bills in Hawaii
The four bills that Lee and his co-authors have put forward include two that require game companies to disclose the odds of getting certain items in loot boxes, and two (one each introduced to the state House and the Senate) that restrict the boxes to those who are over the age of 21.
In keeping with a more placatory approach, Lee acknowledges that the legislation is not as aggressive as it could be, but says it is a starting point for a conversation. Since the Entertainment Software Rating Board has steadfastly maintained that loot boxes are not a form of gambling, and with free speech and expression rights of game developers a potential hot debate topic, this gentler stance could be a successful way forward for lawmakers.
Loot Box Concerns Taken Seriously
The softer punch of the proposed bills in Hawaii should not be seen as evidence that legislators do not regard them as a real problem. Rather, they show that they take them very seriously and are prepared to do what they have to in order to get measures of control put in place. Past efforts have focused on the debate around whether loot boxes should be considered gambling or not, and these have not been effective.
Washington state Sen. Kevin Ranker introduced a bill in January 2018 that asked the state’s gambling commission to evaluate whether or not loot boxes are games of chance, and two state senators in Indiana separately did the same. When the Indiana bill didn’t get a committee hearing, it was effectively buried.
With the proposed bills for Hawaii, the focus, says Lee, has shifted. No longer engaging in a philosophical debate on what the exact nature of a loot box is, the new legislation seeks to provide transparency and protection for all those who buy them – minors especially. Denying information concerning the odds of receiving certain items is, Lee says, tantamount to exploitation.
In addition, if loot boxes are not dealt with now, they could become the norm in other industries too. Instead of knowing what songs you are buying through iTunes, suggests Lee, you could pay for a lucky dip of tunes with content and volume that you know nothing about. Dealing with this issue now could stem that tide.
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Peaceful Approach Better for Everyone
Game companies, for their part, could also benefit much more from an equitable state of affairs than from an acrimonious one. Failure to cooperate now could strengthen the connection between loot boxes and gambling, which could result in games having to comply with the gambling laws and statutes of each state. Besides being a logistical nightmare, this would also almost certainly mean that some features of the games and loot boxes would have to be disabled in different areas, which would, of course, cause a very unwelcome drop in profits.
As an issue drawing support from both sides of the floor, legislation in gaming labels could be a rare chance for bipartisan support. Unification of constituents behind a common cause, in the fractured political climate of 2018 North America, could be a major side benefit to the tackling of the loot boxes issue.
Sources:
https://www.polygon.com/2018/3/3/17068788/esrb-ratings-changes-history-loot-boxes
https://www.polygon.com/2018/2/28/17062424/loot-boxes-esrb-rating-warning-labels-crates
https://www.gamezone.com/news/ea-defends-loot-boxes-says-arent-ones-using/