This article originally ran under a different banner/website in May of 2019 and is now being here re-uploaded for purposes of convenience and consolidation. Please enjoy.
HEAR YE!!! HEAR YE!!! I stand before all of you vindicated. Some might call me a prophet; I prefer the term survivor. The games industry at one point was beautiful, but like most industries, there were too many big companies, not enough consumers. They soon began harvesting as much money as they could from whales, in the form of loot boxes. I said it was anti-consumer; they called me a madman. What I predicted has come to pass.
On May 8, 2019, Josh Hawley (R – MO) introduced a bill titled “The Protecting Children from Abusive Games Act.” The bill would target loot boxes and pay-to-win microtransactions in games aimed at kids. Hawley includes games that are designed for kids under 18 or games that the developers knowingly allow minors players to engage in these predatory microtransactions. If this bill would come to pass, loot boxes and microtransactions in games ranging from Candy Crush to Overwatch to the FIFA series would cease to exist. I call that mercy. Unfortunately, reality can often be disappointing. It would be delusional to assume this legislation will pass. The United States is more concerned with keeping the dragons that lead these companies happy than preventing kids from developing gambling habits. I can see this legislation impeding on a child’s freedom from donating to the dragon’s hoard of gold. What really causes my blood to boil is the merely-mouth comment from the ESA (Entertainment Software Association), the video game industry lobbyist group:
“Numerous countries, including Ireland, Germany, Sweden, Denmark, Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom, determined that loot boxes do not constitute gambling. We look forward to sharing with the senator the tools and information the industry already provides that keep the control of in-game spending in parents’ hands. Parents already have the ability to limit or prohibit in-game purchases with easy-to-use parental controls.” (via Kotaku)
Where to begin with this hollow statement? I could easily point out that many of the countries listed above are investigating whether loot boxes have tendencies similar to gambling. New Zealand and the United Kingdom have stated they don’t believe loot boxes fit the legal definition of gambling, but they are researching the links between loot boxes and gambling tendencies. Ireland is currently overhauling its gambling laws and could work to include loot boxes in their legal definition. Sweden is still determining whether loot boxes could be considered gambling. Finally, Germany is also creating laws to protect consumers against loot boxes and microtransactions. All in all, the weaselly statement is made to hide the fact law has been asleep at the wheel when it comes to protecting consumers. Rather than feed politicians the truth, the ESA would rather do what it can keep the law sedated and unaware of the obscene riches the dragons of the gaming industry hoard.
I could also point out that I don’t recall seeing any parental control of microtransactions in any game I have played. I have taken a brief look at some of the games on my phone to see where these parental controls the ESA claims. I downloaded Candy Crush onto my phone since that is the main game in Hawley’s bill. While initially, I could not locate the parental controls in the app, I was able to locate an FAQ that informed me that parental controls were located in the app store itself. I noticed Pokémon Go also depended on the app store parental controls. Quite adequate tools you provide there, games industry. Hearthstone also did not seem to have any parental controls in the app, I know Blizzard game launcher, Battle.Net, has parental controls. To find the parental controls on the Battle.Net launcher, one would have to go into Account Management, scroll to Parental Controls, select Set Up and enter in two different emails and passwords. Seems like a lot of effort to prevent kids from purchasing Overwatch loot boxes or Hearthstone card packs. Now I am sure the cowardly ESA would say that the parent controls designed to keep kids from turning back on the loot boxes, but the 14 or 15-year-old playing Overwatch probably knows a little bit more about the internet than his suburban parents. While I could install Fortnite to see if there are parental controls, I will harass to guess there isn’t, since stories of kids spending thousands of their parent’s money on microtransactions have become too common of a story. All this renders the ESA comment about providing parents with the proper tools moot.
Honestly, I feel no sympathy for the gaming industry. It will be a while before legislation takes hold in the United States, it is clearly looming on the horizon. I truly hope it will sweep through the gaming industry turning Activision and Electronic Arts into ash because that is all they have earned. Let the record show I didn’t ask for legislation. I would rather see the games industry turn to sense than unchecked greed, but we know that would never happen. They had plenty of opportunities to clean their own mess, but their arrogance and their greed got in the way. They can dread it. Run from it, but the legislation will arrive.
While I won’t shed a tear for the games industry, I won’t cheer either. I will merely just shake my head in disappointment. Again, I do not call for legislation to govern the industry. I don’t even call for developers to unionize when I hear stories of developer crunch. I would rather the game industry sort out their own mess. There is a balance between making money and treating your customers with respect, but the games industry does not want to hear that. They rather the industry is pilfered by dragons, so I welcome the legislation. It is all the industry deserves.
Let the legislation come. I hope the legislation tears down the industry down to the last atoms. From the ashes, a new industry will emerge, one that knows not of the dragons that ruled before them. A grateful industry. A grateful customer base. I will then rest as the sunset on a gaming industry that has no need for a Doomsayer. No need for shouting for Developers’ rights. No need for the shouting of loot boxes. No need to shout about 800 employees laid off while the company has record-breaking profit. Until then, I will continue to shout the end is nigh.
