Games

BGC Investigating Loot Boxes

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22 November 2017

By Alex Khalil

Saw that coming.

According to the Belgian news site RTBF, Belgians Gaming Commission has been investigating the growing prevalence of loot boxes in video games. The original report from the Commission stated the ‘mixture of money and addiction is a game of chance’ and should be regulated.

Heroes of the Storm is a free-to-play-game, so I understand loot boxes bein used for monetisation. You can buy gems to purchase these and get a random assortment of cosmetics or even a hero to play as. You can also buy heroes using gems.

Any game with gambling in it, as part of the law, is rated an 18+. Loot boxes have gotten away with it because gambling regulations haven’t been updated to these newer and more insidious ways to syphon money off players. It was reported that game operators can be ‘aggressive’ in their implementation. As expected it was also said that these predatory practises target ‘young people’. One look at the YouTube culture surrounding these boxes is enough to see how excited younger people get about opening a pretend box and getting whatever drivel pops out.

Then there’s this nonsense. Keep loot boxes out of single-player games. Period.

The Justice Minister has called for a ban on these practices, across Europe, which would seriously mess with the formula for various games in the EU. Battlefront 2 would take a massive hit considering its entire multiplayer mode is based on the content of these boxes.

Plus, it would totally screw with games like Overwatch for their so-called ‘progression’ through gaining loot boxes.

We’ll update when there’s a new development.

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