Democratic member of the Hawaii House of Representatives, Chris Lee, has another video on microtransaction mechanics and how they are implemented into video games. This time he questions the ESA about loot box percentage disclosures being listed on the ESRB rating, and more.
Chris Lee, the Democratic member of the Hawaii House of Representatives, has published a new video on microtransactions. Lee declares that there should be something done about how publishers and developers are implementing microtransaction functions into games.
Lee has went as far to propose bills suggesting to disclose the odds of getting items in loot-boxes, and an easy way to identify if said game features MTX mechanics via a website and on the ESRB label on the front/back of a game.
According to lee he had said that lobbyists from the gaming industry have also started showing up to defend loot-boxes, raising questions about such practices.
The abridged version of Lee’s questions to the ESA can be seen below thanks to YouTuber YongYea.
If you want to see the full video that Lee has up on his YouTube channel you can visit his channel or watch the video here.
Lee showcases footage of ESA lobbyists attempting to stop the bill from passing through the House that would force the ESRB to disclose on the box what the loot box odds are as well as if games contain predatory loot boxes and gambling like mechanics using real money.
ESA lobbyists they said that loot boxes weren’t gambling, but Lee questioned them about skins betting and the recent crackdown that gambling commissions had on loot box gambling from third-party operated websites, which was a scandal a couple of years ago that came to light when big name YouTubers were running loot box gambling sites. Lee asked the lobbyists if the gambling commissions stated that skins betting with loot boxes was gambling, wouldn’t that make loot boxes gambling? The lobbyists were unable to answer.
In other news relating to MTX mechanics, early in February the German commission must come to a decisive decision regarding loot-boxes this March. That means the German commission group has less than a month to decide their stance on loot-boxes.
The reason behind so many government bodies having to weigh in on the current “loot-box” and “games as a service” model is due to how some games have handled them in the recent past and the lack of regulation being administered by the ESA, ESRB, PEGI and other regulatory bodies spread across the industry.
In addition to the above, Washington state senator, Keven Ranker, has also joined in and gave his input on loot-boxes, stating that he believes that they are “predatory”. Both Lee and Ranker are in agreement that microtransactions mechanics in games should be regulated and are actively looking for a solution.
