Senators Josh Hawley (R – Missouri), Ed Markey (D – Mass.), and Richard Blumenthal (D – Conn.) have introduced legislation to significantly limit the use of loot boxes and microtransactions in video games.
“Today’s digital entertainment ecosystem is an online gauntlet for children,” said Senator Markey in a press release. “Inherently manipulative game features that take advantage of kids and turn play time into pay time should be out of bounds. I’m proud to partner with Senator Hawley and Senator Blumenthal on this important legislation because corporate profits should never come before children’s well-being.”
The bill looks to prohibit the use of loot boxes and “pay-to-win” microtransactions in both games targeted to minors AND games that the developers and distributors have good reason to believe are played by minors, even if the games are not specifically geared toward them. So, based on the latter, that’s basically every video game in existence, except maybe the Leisure Suit Larry series (scratch that: I played that as a minor, though I did not process any of the sexual themes).
Loot boxes are basically treasure chests that players can earn for playing a game or purchase with either with real money or in-game currency. Every loot box contains items for use in the game. Some games include items that give a player an advantage, some offer items that are purely cosmetic and do not affect the game, and some offer a combination of the two. This is where the “casino” criticism of loot boxes comes in, as they are often compared to slot machines. The big difference is that while you don’t know exactly what you will receive in a loot box, you are guaranteed to receive something, whereas with a slot machine, you often receive exactly jack and squat.
Naturally, one can imagine that gamers trying to get a specific item from a loot box might keep buying them in a “just one more try” scenario until they finally get what they want or run out of funds.
“Only the addiction economy could produce a business model that relies on placing a casino in the hands of every child in America with the goal of getting them desperately hooked. I’m proud to introduce this landmark, bipartisan legislation to end to these exploitative practices,” said Senator Hawley in the press release.
“Pay-to-win” microtransactions are direct in-game purchases, not based on luck, of specific items that give a player an advantage. These items might provide a more powerful weapon, give the player better character traits, allow the player to progress faster in the game, or especially in the case of mobile games, give the player more play time. They are usually low-cost, but some gamers have been known to spend hundreds or thousands of dollars on such microtransactions. Microtransactions that are only for cosmetic items are not prohibited by the legislation.
“I’m proud to sponsor this bipartisan legislation to protect kids from predatory gaming apps and hold bad actors accountable for their reprehensible practices. Congress must send a clear warning to app developers and tech companies: Children are not cash cows to exploit for profit,” said Senator Blumenthal.