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

The label will be clearly visible

[rsilvergun]

in the bottom of a locked filing cabinet stuck in a disused lavatory with a sign on the door saying 'Beware of the Leopard'.

Re:The label will be clearly visible

[DontBeAMoran]

Surely, this will make a Dent into the complaints.

MA

[Dahlgil]

Should have just rated these titles as MA.

Re:MA

[PopeRatzo]

Then I'm going to expect tits. And I'm not going to want to pay for them.

Tits are in the blue lootboxes, but they only drop about 1 in 100. I know a guy - a friend, if you will - who spent $90 before he got a blue lootbox with tits in them, and then they were just little ones with hair on the nipples.

Am I the only person left willing to pay for games

[jellomizer]

I much rather pay $20-$80 for a game and get all of its features. Then have a game where I can buy myself to victory.
I do like often the Free to play first chapter, or limited world just so I can determine if the game is worth my money or not. But after I pay for it, I kinda want access to everything, or at least access to a level where I can get it in game play. And if it is multi-player I want my chances to be just as good as the next guys.

Verbiage

[nwaack]

The verbiage of the label should say, "WARNING: The company that made this game is run by a bunch of greedy d-bags so you're only getting a partial, broken version of the game."

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.

You can't vote with your wallet

[rsilvergun]

These purchases are mostly made by "whales". e.g. a small group of individuals who buy hundreds, sometimes thousands of dollars worth of in game items; usually because they seek social standing and/or a circle of friends online. You can boycott them all you want. The point of these systems is to take advantage of psychologically vulnerable people and drain their bank accounts (or their parents bank accounts).

On a side note this is also why people describe these practices as predatory. The industry knows it too; which is why they didn't immediately self regulate. They're gonna get as much money in the door before the Feds come in and bust it all up.

What's infuriating about this isn't just that they're taking advantage of vulnerable nerds but that they're about to bring down the hammer on the entire industry and that hammer usually comes with a lot of collateral damage.

Re:Should all shareware likewise be AO?

[hairyfeet]

Because this is gambling? With other games you know what you are gonna get for your money be it expansion packs, premium vehicles, etc but this is designed to keep you throwing money in the CHANCE you might get something valuable...no different than a slot machine. Hell this is basically a variation on the pachinko scam they've used in Japan to get around gambling laws for years where you gamble for "prizes" that you can then walk next door and change into cash...just like the online auction houses in games like CS:GO where you can turn that prize into cash.