US and European Lawmakers Proposing Measures to Regulate Loot Boxes

Sorry. EA is still in the news. But this time, the news is incredible.

Turns out, people's outrage against Star Wars Battlefront 2 was way, way louder than we first anticipated. While it's debatable how many people at EA actually listened to the fan outcry, lawmakers have heard the frustrated cries of gamers loud and clear.

Now, I'm not typically a fan of government regulation on media. But when we're regulating predatory, unfair, and over-used trite like the Loot Box, well, it's hard for me to find anything to complain about. And in this case, Belgium's Gaming Commission has decided after a week-long investigation that loot boxes are, in fact, gambling: no matter what EA and the ESRB might say.

The article announcing the news was in Dutch, of course, but a Dutch speaker was able to translate the thrust of the article over on Reddit: and it amounted to the fact that when you combine money and addicting systems like loot boxes, you have gambling. And gambling in gaming, especially games designed for children, is a big ol' no-no. And now Belgium is pushing for the EU to outright ban loot boxes in games.

But don't worry: this isn't only happening in Europe.



This is Rep. Chris Lee (D) from Hawaii, talking to a crowd about loot boxes in games, specifically the type found in EA's Battlefront 2. And he's taking aim at the practice and hoping to combat "predatory" practices in modern video games. In a follow-up statement, he elaborated:

These kinds of lootboxes and microtransactions are explicitly designed to prey upon and exploit human psychology in the same way casino games are so designed. This is especially true for young adults who child psychologists and other experts explain are particularly vulnerable. These exploitive mechanisms and the deceptive marketing promoting them have no place in games being marketed to minors, and perhaps no place in games at all.

The bill he's proposed would prohibit the sales of games with loot boxes to minors, and force games to disclose loot box elements. Regulations like these, which are also on pornographic games, would basically mean those games have no presence on store shelves, which most game developers would like to avoid.

I'm so behind this. Even if these measures don't pass, its at least sending a strong message to game developers: We're watching, and we don't approve.

I hope the lesson sticks.