• Light/Dark
  • Ever wanted an RSS feed of all your favorite gaming news sites? Go check out our new Gaming Headlines feed! Read more about it here.
  • We have made minor adjustments to how the search bar works on ResetEra. You can read about the changes here.

Apple Says Apps Must Now Disclose Odds For Loot Boxes

Status
Not open for further replies.
zombiejames

zombiejames

Member
Oct 25, 2017
11,934
https://kotaku.com/apple-says-itunes-apps-must-now-disclose-odds-for-loot-1821497923

Apple announced a sweeping revision to the guidelines for its App Store yesterday, which now includes a provision that loot boxes must be transparent about their odds.

"Apps offering 'loot boxes' or other mechanisms that provide randomized virtual items for purchase must disclose the odds of receiving each type of item to customers prior to purchase," reads the new rule, which will affect the most popular games on iOS, including Hearthstone, The Simpsons Tapped Out, and Clash Royale.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Hopefully this is just the beginning and hopefully MS, Sony, and Nintendo aren't too far behind. I'd still prefer to see an AO/18+ rating on these games.
 
PSqueak

PSqueak

Member
Oct 25, 2017
12,464
Could blizzard use the same bullshit they pulled in china if this applied to consoles and PC?
 
Jack Scofield

Jack Scofield

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,452
Do we just have to take the companies at their word, or is there a way to independently verify their number?
 
Pancracio17

Pancracio17

▲ Legend ▲
Avenger
Oct 29, 2017
18,792
Good. The most worrying part about not knowing the odds is that the dev can just adjust them without you knowing just to suck you out of more money. It can still happen but now its possible for them to get caught.

Blizzard will find a way to side step this though.
 
Blackflag

Blackflag

The Fallen
Oct 25, 2017
1,968
Hopefully this will cause some of these companies to up some of the ridiculous odds.

I believe Summoners War has a 0.5% chance of getting a 5 star monster.
 

Deleted member 5764

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
6,574
I definitely applaud Apple for this stance, though I wonder how much it will affect consumers. Will a person who spends a ton of money on loot boxes right now really change their spending habits based on this? I guess it will affect some, but I don't think it'll make a big difference.

zombiejames said:
https://kotaku.com/apple-says-itunes-apps-must-now-disclose-odds-for-loot-1821497923

Hopefully this is just the beginning and hopefully MS, Sony, and Nintendo aren't too far behind. I'd still prefer to see an AO/18+ rating on these games.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

I find this stance to be strange. Not just for loot boxes, but for games as a whole. When it's commercial suicide for a game to have that rating, why not just go for an outright ban? I just think it's silly to pretend like a dev/publisher has that option.
 
Horror

Horror

Banned
Nov 3, 2017
1,997
Blackflag said:
Hopefully this will cause some of these companies to up some of the ridiculous odds.

I believe Summoners War has a 0.5% chance of getting a 5 star monster.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

"For a limited time between 12/21/17 and 12/31/17, chances of winning a 5 star monster will be raised to 2%. Hurry and take advantage of this limited time offer!"

The future of gaming.
 
PSqueak

PSqueak

Member
Oct 25, 2017
12,464
Burdmayn said:
I find this stance to be strange. Not just for loot boxes, but for games as a whole. When it's commercial suicide for a game to have that rating, why not just go for an outright ban? I just think it's silly to pretend like a dev/publisher has that option.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Perhaps if "gambling" is the reason for the AO rating, it will become less taboo to sell AO games in stores, because now it would be like "oh, it's just because of loot boxes".
 
Blackflag

Blackflag

The Fallen
Oct 25, 2017
1,968
The Horror the Horror said:
"For a limited time between 12/21/17 and 12/31/17, chances of winning a 5 star monster will be raised to 2%. Hurry and take advantage of this limited time offer!"

The future of gaming.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

It's terrible but this already happens. and now they don't give the rate. so it's like .5% and then they make a big banner "OMG DOUBLE DROPRATES FOR THIS WEEK"...meanwhile it's still 1%
 
Border

Border

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
14,859
It's a good start -- lobbying the platform-holders over this stuff is probably the best course of action. Publishers weren't going to come on board collectively as a whole.
 

Wiped

Banned
Nov 2, 2017
2,096
Burdmayn said:
I find this stance to be strange. Not just for loot boxes, but for games as a whole. When it's commercial suicide for a game to have that rating, why not just go for an outright ban? I just think it's silly to pretend like a dev/publisher has that option.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Why is it commercial suicide though? In the UK we have loads of 18+ rated games. It's normal here. GTA V, The Last of Us and several Call Of Duty games are 18+ and cannot be purchased by anyone younger than that. And it's fine. The US is so weird about this stuff.
 
Border

Border

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
14,859
App developers will very quickly find a way to skirt around this.

Apple probably just needs stronger spending controls if they want to prevent abuse.
 
0ptimusPayne

0ptimusPayne

Member
Oct 27, 2017
5,754
I do like the progress, but Im just curious who regulates those reported odds? Can app devs/pubs just put whatever they want, or is it verified somehow?
 

Deleted member 5764

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
6,574
Wiped said:
Why is it commercial suicide though? In the UK we have loads of 18+ rated games. It's normal here. GTA V, The Last of Us and several Call Of Duty games are 18+ and cannot be purchased by anyone younger than that. And it's fine. The US is so weird about this stuff.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Well you point out an interesting point of comparison. In the U.S., "M" is 17+ and is the rating applied to the games you mentioned above. AO is 18+, which is quite confusing as that's the age the U.S. considers you to be an adult (mostly). That rating is basically applied to nothing here.
 
Pulp

Pulp

Member
Nov 4, 2017
3,023
Crazy that this kind of information isn't required by law honestly. I believe there are such laws for lotteries and such. It's all gambling anyway.
 
Vic Damone Jr.

Vic Damone Jr.

Member
Oct 27, 2017
16,596
Pancracio17 said:
Good. The most worrying part about not knowing the odds is that the dev can just adjust them without you knowing just to suck you out of more money. It can still happen but now its possible for them to get caught.

Blizzard will find a way to side step this though.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Yup, there needs to be a way to tell if they change and a penalization if they change just cause.
 
Vadara

Vadara

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
3,565
PSqueak said:
Perhaps if "gambling" is the reason for the AO rating, it will become less taboo to sell AO games in stores, because now it would be like "oh, it's just because of loot boxes".
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...


This is why I think giving lootbox games an AO rating will be pointless. Let's be honest: the AO rating exists to keep porn games off of the consoles. If games with lootboxes get AO ratings, the ESRB will just make a new rating for porn games and suddenly you can sell AO games in retail.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.