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https://www.broadcastingcable.com/news/ftc-pledges-to-investigate-video-game-loot-boxes
https://www.broadcastingcable.com/news/ftc-pledges-to-investigate-video-game-loot-boxes
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Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Pledges to Investigate Video Game 'Loot Boxes'
- Thread starter SinCityAssassin
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Good. Whatever the final decision may be, there should be an investigation at least.
Excellent. There is no two ways about it, this stuff is gambling and it is incredibly exploitative.
Thank goodness.
It's time for some actual regulation. I really hope companies like EA and Ubi change their ways when it's all said and done .
It's time for some actual regulation. I really hope companies like EA and Ubi change their ways when it's all said and done .
Here's hoping something comes of it. This business model is gross, and it's objectively gambling and should be regulated as such. Here's hoping ESRB eventually has to put a warning on the front of boxes that this game contains gambling or something of that nature.
They should be regulated better for sure, but I don't think loot boxes are inherently bad. Loot boxes have been done well in games like Overwatch. You get a fairly steady stream of them with multiple ways to get them free as well as the in game currency for buying what you want easily. Now if only you could get the old event stuff still. As long as it's just cosmetic stuff, it's fine in my book... But seriously fuck games that have loot boxes for better gear/weapons/characters.
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Personally I'm expecting them to say it's gambling so they can tax the shit out of it.
Oh shit things are getting serious now!
There's no way these things should be in games that aren't rated 18+, just like any type of regular casino gambling.
Eat shit, greedy corporate scumbags!
There's no way these things should be in games that aren't rated 18+, just like any type of regular casino gambling.
Eat shit, greedy corporate scumbags!
Lootboxes are gambling and should be regulated as such. Cosmetic lootboxes aren't as offensive as "pay to win" designs, but the lesser of two evils is still evil.
And taxing it might actually discourage publishers to knock it off. The IRS is serious about getting its money.
To say lootboxes are gambling is doing a disservice to the gambling industry as far as I'm concerned. Gambling has regulations, more lax in some regions than others, but it is regulated. Lootboxes are completely out-of-control and the net result of all these companies focusing on it is in 3 years once changes are in place, half the staff of EA will be let go because their eggs are all in on this predatory basket. I guarantee it.
They are horrible in Overwatch and is part of the reason why I can not play the game.
Are the random toy machines in the front of stores and restaurants gambling?
Not really. And one issue with gambling regulations and their definitions is that a majority of them where created in the 70's and hardly updated since then.
I would definitely recommend everyone give this Twitchcon panel a watch about lootboxes. It's hosted by two lawyers.
https://www.twitch.tv/videos/328589889?t=1h43m21s
EDIT: One interesting highlight they bring up in the mobile space, is Big Fish Casino, a literal and 100% virtual casino. You could transfer chips between players, and the company made profit from this. It was not deemed gambling even though it had built in secondary market where you can exchange money. But just recently as a few months ago that was overturned and is now considered gambling. And this is thanks to younger and more tech savvy lawyers showing up in the field. And they didn't look to the secondary market to deem it gambling either, they looked at the free play argument that many companies gives for their F2P mobile games. Such as free play, free gems, daily bonus, etc. Earning free plays over time did not save them.
This is how messed up gambling regulation is and why it needs updates. A virtual casino can be seen as not gambling though it entirely is. Because the law for this has barely been updated to work in the internet space.
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They're usually clear, allowing you to plainly see the odds of getting a certain toy.
The psychology of those machines is also very different. I've never heard of a case of someone blowing huge amounts of money on them. They could be made more addictive with lights, noises, etc., but the makers are probably afraid of direct comparisons to casino slot machines.
As for trading cards, though the act of opening the packs can definitely be addictive, the young target audience is typically limited by actual cash-on-hand rather than more invisible credit card/online purchases. And being physical items, you can obtain them out-of-pack at market price, or through, well, trading.
Now claw machines, redemption machines, and midway games, there's some shit. Worse than lootboxes in some ways. I wouldn't be surprised to see the video game industry use the lack of regulation of those things as some kind of defence.
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You need a permit to operate them in most areas, so taxed basically.
You can see all of what you can get in loot boxes, and they're generally ranked in order of common they are. You can't really tell for vending machines because most of the toys are inside the first layer.
Gambling is not defined by how addictive it is or what the potential for loss is.
What's visible in a vending machine is indicative of what's in the entire machine. Lootbox odds are far less clear, and even if they were, lootbox mechanics are far more manipulative.
So much this!!! I have given up on gaming industry self regulating itself loot boxes makes them too much money
Sure, but this sort of cost would be passed directly to gamers.
Yep. Being fully transparent would just by itself do wonders for these systems. And it's at minimum, a regulation that I would like to see go through.
Rating wouldn't work. You cant legally be on a gambling floor if you are underneath the gambling age. They would have to have an actual system in place to prevent minors from accessing them at all. You wont see a 13 year old playing blackjack or pulling the lever at a casino.
Writing letters individually to the commission would have a huge impact, and I'm not talking about some online petition that governing bodies don't actually consider.
Getting all the other forums that are against loot boxes in full priced games to work together would slay this thing
Getting all the other forums that are against loot boxes in full priced games to work together would slay this thing
Before people cape about how adding odds visibly would be a lot of work, a lot of games that are in other countries show the odds, they just turn it off for American/UK regions.
It's a matter of principle more than anything. If developers could only put loot boxes in AdultsOnly-rated games, they'd simply stop because no one wants to make a game rated AO.
It also depends on the definitions they create for regulated lootboxes. Say this is regulated with specific things like a rare item should not be less than 5%. Any company going under could be skinned alive if it was found they were cheating costumers out of their money.
Interesting. Seems like they're targeting the right things (content in mobile games deliberately marketed towards children) instead of going after AAA games which are broadly fine.
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