US legislator calls out EA's "predatory practices" in Star Wars Battlefront 2
Belgium's Gaming Commission today declared that loot boxes in video games are a form of gambling, and said that it would take Europe into pursuit of a ban against them. But interest in, and opposition to, the randomly filled digital boxes is gaining traction in the US, too. Rep. Chris Lee of Hawaii posted a video to YouTube in which he calls for "future protections for kids, youth, and everyone when it comes to the spread of predatory practices in online gaming."
The video specifically addresses Star Wars Battlefront 2, the game that pushes the loot box controversy off a cliff. The title, for one thing, is "Highlights of the EA predatory behavior announcement," and in case there was any doubt he feels about it, Lee describes the game as "a Star Wars-themed online casino designed to lure kids into spending money.
"It's a kick," he says, showing off his Star Wars bona fides. "And this is something we need to address, that's what kids are underage, who are not psychologically and emotionally mature enough to be able to gamble-which is why cycles which have many folks to spend thousands of dollars in gaming fees online.
"We 're looking at legislation that could prohibit access, or prohibit the sale of these games, to folks who are underage, in order to protect families, as well as prohibiting different kinds of mechanisms in those games."
Lee said in a follow-up Reddit post that the video was not supposed to go public yet, but I have decided to go for it. up.
"These kinds of lootboxes and microtransactions are explicitly designed to pre-empt and exploit human psychology in the same way that are so designed," he wrote. "This is especially true for young people who have psychologists and other experts explain that they are particularly vulnerable, and they have no place in games being marketed to minors, and perhaps no place in games at all."
In the video, Lee says that he's already in contact with legislators in other states who are taking a hard look at loot boxes. "Frankly, we do not need to change the laws in every state," he wrote in the Reddit post. "We just need to change and we'll have enough change and change."
With all due respect to Belgium, I would say that this is the sign that the ball has really begun to roll. Where it rolls and what it rolls over-I can not start to guess. I can, however, aim at our more in-depth look at the case for and against loot boxes, according to developers.
