In new games for PS4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch, the chance of items falling out of loot boxes will always be indicated. Console games that violate this rule will simply not be published.
This requirement of the platform owners was reported by the Association of Software and Video Game Manufacturers (ESA), which includes Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo. The requirement will come into force no later than the end of 2020. It will affect all new games and DLC to them.
As Eurogamer notes, all three publishers have already confirmed their position. In particular, Nintendo commented on the situation as follows: “It is very important for us that users of our games can make an informed choice.”
ESA also stressed in an official statement that many other publishers support this initiative. Among them are Activision Blizzard, BANDAI NAMCO, Bethesda, Bungie, Electronic Arts, Take-Two, Ubisoft, Warner Bros. and Wizards of the Coast. Some companies are already demanding to indicate the percentage of randomness in the loot boxes, while others are preparing to introduce this rule.
Indicating the chance of losing valuable items is a compromise solution. In some countries (for example, in Belgium and the Netherlands), game publishers have taken on tougher. Regulators require removing boxes with random rewards from games — otherwise the games themselves are blocked in the region. That’s because there loot boxes are equated with prohibited gambling.
The situation around loot boxes has been heating up for more than a year. The connection of virtual boxes with gambling is being studied by experts from many countries. In some of them, the problem was brought to the political level. So, in the USA, the project to ban loot boxes was supported by both Republicans and Democrats.
At the same time, ESA is confident that loot boxes are not a form of gambling. This was stated last year by the president of the organization Mike Gallaher (Mike Hallaher). They noted that the contents of the loot boxes cannot be converted into real currency, which means they have nothing to do with gambling.
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