Loot boxes have been getting a lot of hate lately, and for a very good reason. In early October, popular game review aggregator OpenCritic, said it was going to take a stand against in-game micro transactions such as these. The latest to get involved in the debate is the Belgian government.
The Gaming Commission of Belgium has ruled that loot boxes constitute a form of gambling since they blend money with addiction. Even setting the idea of addiction aside, most of the time, users don’t know what they’re paying for when they purchase access to a loot box, making it a gamble of sorts.
The majority of companies offering micro transactions within their games seem happy to let this confusion prevail. Belgium’s having none of that. Minister of Justice Koen Geens, is aiming to place a ban on in-game transactions which do not tell customers exactly what they’ll be getting for their money.
Most of us will agree that the custom of adding loot boxes which could be purchased for real world cash was one that managed to avoid intense scrutiny until big name titles which already cost a decent amount of money to buy started including these micro transactions as an added revenue source.
Also see: OpenCritic wages war against loot boxes
Slipping gambling into an equation where the payoff generally requires gaming skills to progress doesn’t just affect young consumers. It influences people of all age groups. At the end of the day, why should anyone be prevented from knowing what they’re purchasing for their hard earned bread?