Loot box legislation is now being pushed at the state and federal levels of government in the United States.
U.S. Senator Maggie Hassan (D-NH) wrote a letter to Patricia Vance, the head of the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB), asking the ESRB to do a better job of examing video game loot boxes for their effect on players — especially underage players.
Earlier this week, Sen. Hassan also asked four FTC nominees their stance on loot boxes. To each nominee, Hassan asked how they would answer the following question: “That children being addicted to gaming — and activities like loot boxes that might make them more susceptible to addiction — is a problem that merits attention?”
In all four cases, the FTC nominees answered, “Yes.”
All four told the 59-year old first-term US senator that loot boxes were something they would look into. For her part, Sen. Hassan said that constituent of hers in New Hampshire had brought the issue to her attention.
Sen. Hassan’s letter and her questions in Senate hearings are further signs that the officials are waking up to the question of whether loot boxes are gambling. Earlier this week, Hawaiian State Rep. Chris Lee introduced an anti-loot box bill in the Hawaiian House of Representatives. Lee’s bill would restrict sales of loot boxes games to players 21 and over. Under the proposal, video game manufacturers would be required to label video game covers with the fact they contain loot boxes.
Hawaiian Loot Box Bill
When asked about the Hawaiian bill, Rep. Chris Lee said, “I grew up playing games my whole life. I’ve watched firsthand the evolution of the industry from one that seeks to create new things to one that’s begun to exploit people, especially children, to maximize profit.”
Video game developers like Entertainment Arts (EA) and Activision should beware Chris Lee’s legislation. While companies could route boxes with the disclaimer to Hawaii only, US states often use one another’s new laws as templates for their own legislation. That especially goes for gaming and/or gambling laws, which often are pushed by lawmakers who are not savvy about the games being discussed.
If Hawaii adopts the loot box legislation, other US states likely will follow. All it takes is one ambitious state lawmaker to see Chris Lee’s loot box law and use it as a model to introduce a bill in their home state. In a time of hyper-partisanship, legislators often seek issues where they can cobble together bipartisan support. Any bill which deals with threats to American youth are particularly up for consideration.
What Is a Loot Box?
Those who don’t play video games, online games, or computer games might not be familiar with loot boxes. Games are sold in stores, but often allow in-game purchases. These in-game purchases include enhancements, better gear, and better weapons. Depending on the type of game being played, upgrades might be called loot boxes, loot crates, lockboxes, or booster packs. They have much in common with “skins”, new and exotic weapons in shooter games.
Most the weapons and gear can be found inside the game, if a player plays long enough and gains achievements. Less affluent or more frugal gamers complain, because players who make in-game purchases receive an undue advantage. Despite that, booster packs might not be so controversial, except players do not know what’s inside a loot box when they purchase it.
The random nature of loot boxes therefore is why critics call them a form of gambling. Video games are linked to online accounts, so a parent’s credit card often is used to maintain a monthly subscription. Children might be prompted to buy a booster pack. Needing an upgrade, the teen or tween might buy the loot box. Since success is not assured, they might continue to make purchases until they get the gear they need. Thus, many see it as gambling.
ERSB’s Stance on Loot Boxes
For its part the ESRB does not consider loot boxes to be gambling. Those who do not say randomness is not the determining factor. Instead, the ability to win money from games of chance is what they consider to be the definition of gambling.
A spokesman for the Entertainment Software Rating Board said this week, “ESRB does not consider loot boxes to be gambling. While there’s an element of chance in these mechanics, the player is always guaranteed to receive in-game content (even if the player unfortunately receives something they don’t want).”
“We think of it as a similar principle to collectible card games: Sometimes you’ll open a pack and get a brand new holographic card you’ve had your eye on for a while. But other times you’ll end up with a pack of cards you already have.”
Collectible Card Game Analogy
The ESRB makes a good analogy when discussing collectible card games, but US lawmakers often are from an older generation that never played Magic: The Gathering. A better analogy that might strike a chord with Baby Boomer generation senators and representatives might be old baseball card packs.
Even in the 50s, 60s, and 70s, collectors would buy a pack of baseball cards, not knowing which players’ cards would be inside. Card collectors might get a rare Hank Aaron or Roberto Clemente card, or they might get a Nolan Ryan rookie card. Or they might get their 7th or 8th Kurt Bevacqua or Duane Kuiper card — and a whole bunch of cards similar to those.
The Baseball Card Argument
Because baseball cards were known to have value by those decades, American kids were investing their parents’ money in a random pack of cards. If the loot box argument can be made, then you could argue the US Congress should have intervened in the 20th Century’s baseball card industry.
Of course, today’s kids can spend a lot more money on an Internet uplink with a credit card attached to it than they could spend $1 on a pack of cards. The principle of randomness is the same, though. In fact, old baseball cards have more to do with investment and value (therefore supposed gambling) than loot boxes do.
