Will Tarry
Stories (1/0)
The Case for Banning Loot Boxes
Senator Josh Hawley is a bit of a rarity on Capitol Hill these days, by which I mean that he’s caused a controversy by trying to pass an actual piece of legislation instead of saying something dumb on Twitter. Well, this controversy is about a bill, at any rate. Back in May, the Freshman Republican from Missouri proposed a bill banning “pay-to-win” monetization in video games that were marketed to children. The bill (which is co-sponsored by Senators Ed Markey of Massachusetts and Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, both Democrats) specifically targets pay-to-win microtransactions and loot boxes on the basis that both are designed to create an “addiction economy” that preys on younger players. Microtransactions and loot boxes are two of the biggest sources of revenue for the video game industry, so the bill has predictably generated a constant stream of opposition from that quarter ever since.
By Will Tarry5 years ago in Gamers