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Video games will come with a new warning that will educate gamers about the potential for loot boxes within their game.
What’s going on:
- The Entertainment Software Rating Board announced this week that it will add a new physical label for loot boxes or items in-game that sell for real money.
- The ESRB label reads: “In-Game Purchases (Includes Random Items).”
- The label will be added to games where loot boxes can be purchased for real money, warning parents and gamers alike that they’re in the game.
- The ESRB said the label will be applied “to any game that contains in-game offers to purchase digital goods or premiums with real world currency (or with virtual coins or other forms of in-game currency that can be purchased with real world currency) for which the player doesn’t know prior to purchase the specific digital goods or premiums they will be receiving (e.g., loot boxes, item packs, mystery awards).”
- The rating will also be added “to all games that include purchases with any randomized elements, including loot boxes, gacha games, item or card packs, prize wheels, treasure chests and more. Games that have the ‘In-Game Purchases (Includes Random Items)’ notice may also include other non-randomized paid elements.”
The context
- Loot boxes have been a subject of discussion within the gaming community for a few years now. You essentially spend your real money to buy new items, challenges or add-ons to the games. Sometimes, you need to purchase the add-ons to see more success within the game.
- “This has been particularly concerning in light of video games’ popularity with young, vulnerable people, and the lack of safeguards for those prone to addiction,” according to Mashable.
- In fact, Australia Sen. Jordan Steele-John said in 2018 that loot boxes are so widely available that they’re essentially like embracing gambling.