Apple Says Apps Must Now Disclose Odds For Loot Boxes (kotaku.com)

Apple has revised the guidelines for its App Store, including a provision that loot boxes must be transparent about their odds. "Apps offering 'loot boxes' or other mechanisms that provide randomized virtual items for purchase must disclose the odds of receiving each type of item to customers prior to purchase," reads the new rule, which will affect the most popular games on iOS, including Hearthstone, The Simpsons Tapped Out, and Clash Royale. Kotaku reports: Loot boxes, which have always been common in the world of iOS gaming, are virtual grab bags that can give players a host of items ranging from common to rare. Most of the time, you can buy these loot boxes not just for in-game currency but for real money, which has led some players to classify them as gambling -- a label that the Entertainment Software Rating Board doesn't acknowledge. As rage over these practices gets louder and louder, Apple's move is the first of what may be many steps that game publishers and distributors voluntarily take in an attempt to avoid regulation from outside bodies.

Comments

The industry's desperately trying

[rsilvergun]

to self regulate fast before the government does it for them.

Way to miss the point ...

[daveime]

This is like telling an alcoholic the alcohol content of the drink in their hand, and expecting them to quit immediately.

Addicts don't really care about odds.

Follow Magic: The Gathering...

[DeplorableCodeMonkey]

Every pack included common cards and semi-rare to very rare cards. The theoretical resale value of your pack was about what you paid for it according to the game guides. (Yes, I said theoretical)

It made everyone happy because it ensured that if you bought a full box of packs, you would get some decent stuff. There were no odds of dropping $50-$100 on a box of card packs and box being just crappy common cards.

Re:Follow Magic: The Gathering...

[vux984]

And then they added foils and "mythic rares". It's no longer viable to buy a booster box and have good odds of getting a particular card. Not that you need foils to play ... they just prey on 'collecters'.

Sure every booster has a so-called 'rare'... but no guarantee on anything actually rare.

Re:Follow Magic: The Gathering...

[cfalcon]

"Mythic Rare" was the shark jumping moment. Foils, as you say, are just there to feed collectors, but when a bunch of power got wrapped up in a rarity that wasn't guaranteed per pack, it changed the old model. It didn't ruin the game or anything, but it was definitely a lot more random than before.

Not all parents are lazy

[rsilvergun]

See here. Some folks just have to work a lot. Some folks had kids before they knew better or live in a state where birth control isn't available. It's hard to say no to sex. If it wasn't the human race would've died out.

What I'm saying is, a smart (and decent) society helps support parents. It doesn't just blame their kid's problems on them being lazy. Never forget that.

Re:lol

[AuMatar]

If the phone doesn't let you do use another app store, it should be sued for anti-trust.

Re: Fear not. There's still hope for your revenues

[sg_oneill]

Yeah I think itâ(TM)s a different phenomena. I still get a lottery ticket every now and then , even though I know the odds of a victory are so low as to barely warrant consideration. Iâ(TM)m not sure about the US , here in west Australia the lottery commission puts all its profits into charity groups , feeding poor folk, environmental cleanup projects and so on. I think itâ(TM)s a pretty good knowing my $2 goes into that , along with a bit of get-rich fantasy , well THOSE odds are pretty good

Re:Apple should disclose odds

[SharpFang]

Oh, but dear sir, it's not so simple! How sure are you the phone won't be 59% slower, or 61% slower?