In the USA, Republicans and Democrats have united against loot boxes. In particular, Missouri Senator Josh Hawley’s bill banning loot boxes was signed by two members of the Democratic Party.
The bill was introduced in the U.S. Senate last Thursday, May 23. Its author proposed to ban games containing loot boxes and any pay-to-win mechanics, since minors can play them. The project is directed against additional transactions that:
- randomly or partially randomly discover new features or content;
- they allow you to purchase things that the system does not report before the transaction.
However, it provides a special exception for the purchase of purely cosmetic items. As well as any that do not give the player advantages over other players and do not facilitate his progression. Does not affect the project and one-time purchases of DLC, as reported Gamesindustry.biz .
The project provides for large fines for companies distributing games with loot boxes and gambling mechanics. In addition, civil lawsuits can be filed against each publisher or distributor who violated the law.
Congress should clearly warn app developers and technology companies: children are not cash cows for profit.
U.S. Senator from the Democratic Party
In game development, the bill is criticized, for example, by the Entertainment Software Developers Association (ESA). According to its leadership, the bipartisan initiative contains inaccuracies. “It does not reflect how video games work, nor how our industry strives to develop innovative and convincing methods of entertaining the audience,” said ESA CEO Stanley Pierre—Louis. He also warned that the bill in the future will harm not only the industry, but also the Americans employed in game development (and there are more than 220 thousand people).
The bill is currently being considered by the U.S. Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee. Democrats Richard Blumenthal and Ed Markey, who signed the initiative, are also members of this committee.
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