The Hawaii Tribune-Herald is reporting that four bills are moving through the state legislature that take direct and specific aim at games featuring loot boxes. Two of them would prohibit the sale of games with loot boxes costing real world money to anyone under 21. Two other bills would require "publisher to prominently label games containing such randomized purchase systems, as well as disclose the probability rates of receiving each loot box reward."
The movement to bring these bills to the legislature largely came from Representative Chris Lee who has published several videos on the issue. The controversy for Lee started with Star Wars: Battlefront. "I've watched firsthand the evolution of the industry from one that seeks to create new things to one that's begun to exploit people, especially children, to maximize a profit.
Whether consumed by children or adults, however, in-game purchases provide massive profits. Activision Blizzard, publisher of “Overwatch,” announced Friday the company made $4 billion from in-game transactions in 2017.
“It’s a $30 billion industry,” Lee said. “It’s bigger than Hollywood. It’s an industry that can reach into everyone’s pockets and phones and consoles and PCs, but there’s no authority to force them to disclose their practices.”
Read the full article at the Hawaii Tribune-Herald.
