Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony Will Now Disclose Odds for all Loot Boxes in Future Games

Loot boxes have become the primary target for many gamers and governments around the world. After EA's Star Wars Battlefront 2 the awareness of loot boxes skyrocketed and since then companies such as EA, Activision, and 2K have been defending the practice as aggressively such as labeling them as "surprise mechanics" or asking their customers to talk to government officials about keeping them.

At a Federal Trade Commission (FTC) public panel on microtransactions in video games, the Entertainment Software Association, ESA, announced that all three have agreed to a voluntary change in their policies toward loot boxes.

This new agreement states that the odds of all loot boxes will be disclosed to the customer.

"Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony have indicated to the ESA a commitment to new platform policies with respect to the use of paid loot boxes in games that are developed for their platform," Warnecke said. "Specifically, this would apply to new games and game updates that add loot box features, and it would require the disclosure of the relative rarity or probabilities of obtaining randomized virtual items in games available on their platforms."

This new policy is a step in the right direction but won't solve everything. As one of the most common complaints about loot boxes is their seductive nature that mimics how casinos keep their customers from stopping. But unlike casinos, video games are accessible to all ages and stories of children clearing out their parent's bank accounts due to unsupervised spending is becoming increasingly common. In addition to stories of those with addiction disorders being unable to stop purchasing loot boxes.

Adam Siddiqui, NoobFeed
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