As of today, the United States Federal Trade Comission (FTC) will be enforcing a rule that will require Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft, alongside major video game publishers, to disclose the rates of obtaining loot from loot boxes within their games.
When it comes to loot boxes, you’ll find that very few gamers like them, and those that don’t mind them, are a very small crowd among the many that actually disapprove of the micro transaction-based element itself.
In an ongoing effort to curb video-game based gambling influences, the FTC and ESA have come to the agreement that the three major console manufacturers – Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo – will require the disclosure of the rate at which items will drop from virtual loot boxes if and when a user purchases them.
Currently, the workshop regarding loot boxes is ongoing, which means we may seem even more policies being put into place or enacted at a later date. Those wanting to read the official statement from the Entertainment Software Association can do so down below:
“The major console makers – Sony Interactive Entertainment, operator of the PlayStation platform, Microsoft, operator of Xbox and Windows, and Nintendo, operator of the Nintendo Switch gaming platform – are committing to new platform policies that will require paid loot boxes in games developed for their platforms to disclose information on the relative rarity or probability of obtaining randomized virtual items.”
This will include named publishers including companies such as Bethesda, EA, Take-Two Interactive, Ubisoft, and Activision who have grown reliant upon loot boxes and microtransactions in recent days.
As noted, a resolution for new policies is expected to happen no later than the end of 2020, which means major changes are coming, and it seems that many of the big-name publishers have been mentioned in order to curb the overreliance of loot boxes as a form of income for video game publishers.
About the Writer(s):
Dustin is our native console gamer, PlayStation and Nintendo reviewer who has an appetite for anything that crosses the borders from across the big pond. His interest in JRPG’s, Anime, Handheld Gaming, and Pizza is insatiable. His elitist attitude gives him direction, want, and a need for the hardest difficulties in games, which is fun to watch, and hilarity at its finest. You can find him over on Twitter or Facebook.