ESRB, a game rating agency, is adding new rating instructions specifically for games that contain loot boxes.
The Entertainment Software Rating Committee today announced its plan, stating that it will add a "include random item" description to its game ratings to allow players to purchase random items in the game.
The rating agency wrote: "In-game purchases (including random items) will be assigned to all games that contain any random elements, including loot boxes, gacha games, items or card packs, prize wheels, treasure chests, etc." in its announcement. "Games with notifications of in-game purchases (including random items) may also include other non-random paid elements."
#ESRB New interactive elements will begin to be allocated, in-game purchases (including random items).
Find more information in our new blog: https://t.co/LPhd5rl7VL pic.twitter.com/nO6p8r1yYJ
-ESRB (@ESRBRatings) April 13, 2020
ESRB's "in-game purchase" description was originally added in early 2018, and there have been many high-profile AAA games, including "Forza Motorsport 7", "Middle Earth: Shadow of War" and "Star Wars: Frontline 2 "Because of the advantage of the game, he was criticized in the loot box.
At the time, US Senator Maggie Hassan called on ESRB to investigate loot boxes and take appropriate action when applying ratings. Hassan asked ESRB to investigate whether to sell in-game purchases with loot in a "moral and transparent" manner. Like other US senators, Hasan worried that the random nature of the items in the loot box would reflect "the mechanical phenomena often found in casinos and accidental games." Although ESRB said it did not think that loot boxes should be compared to gambling, the increasing pressure eventually led to the addition of new grade names.
"The video game industry and the ESRB rating system are constantly evolving and innovating. The goal of ESRB is to ensure that parents can use the latest and most comprehensive tools to help them determine which game is suitable for their children." The ESRB chairman said at the time.
"As new interactive elements for in-game purchases appear in physical games, parents will know when the game includes discounts for players to purchase more content. In addition, we will increase our efforts to introduce parents to the current available for them Controls to manage in-game spending before the child presses "Start". "
