ESRB Introducing 'In-Game Purchases' Label in Response To Loot Box Controversy (polygon.com)

The Entertainment Software Rating Board will begin labeling video games that contain in-game purchases, a response to lawmakers who have noticed the outcry over so-called loot crate systems and have signaled a willingness to legislate them. From a report: The labeling will "be applied to games with in-game offers to purchase digital goods or premiums with real world currency," the ESRB said in a news release this morning, "including but not limited to bonus levels, skins, surprise items (such as item packs, loot boxes, mystery awards), music, virtual coins and other forms of in-game currency, subscriptions, season passes and upgrades (e.g., to disable ads)." The label will appear separate from the familiar ESRB rating label (T-for-Teen, M-for-Mature, etc.) and not inside it. Additionally, the ESRB has begun an awareness campaign meant to highlight the controls available to parents whose households have a video game console.

Comments

Doesn't address the problem

[Comboman]

While the warning is a step in the right direction, the problem was not with loot boxes in general but loot boxes that contain items of random value such that you have to keep buying to get the item you want. This is essentially gambling, thus deserving of the dreaded AO (Adults Only) rating.