Germany considers outlawing the sale of loot box games to minors

[Cal Jeffrey]

Editor's take: Loot boxes are one of those topics that pop up every once in a while to make some waves then go away again. Regulators and politicians bash the mechanic and threaten to do something about it, but it never seems to go away. Furthermore, laws that have come about have seemed toothless and have done nothing to solve the problem.

Germany is the latest European nation to consider regulating loot boxes in video games. Spiegel reports the Bundestag (lower Parliament) passed a reformed version of Germany's 19-year-old Youth Protection Act. Germany's Bundesrat (Federal Council) still has to pass the legislative reform for it to take effect. The revisions focus on ensuring that children are not subjected to in-game purchasing, particularly "gambling-like mechanisms," commonly known as loot boxes or pay-to-win (P2W).

The government is not outright banning loot boxes but is proposing strict age restrictions on titles containing the mechanic. The reformed legislation would prohibit stores from selling such games to anyone under the age of 18. It might seem like a trifle since M-rated games do well even though limited to 17 and older.

Blizzard pokes fun of pay-to win mechanics in a 2017 StarCraft promo.

However, when you consider established franchises like Fifa, which are open to basically anyone, the rule cuts off a large part of the developer's demographic. In this example, EA would have to either disable or remove loot boxes sold in Germany to keep its age rating. Obviously, EA and others that implement loot boxes will consider the financial tradeoffs and make decisions that ultimately affect their bottom lines the least.

Germany is by no means the first country to take action against loot boxes. In 2017, Australian regulators ruled the game mechanic is gambling and worked with the country's rating board to change game ratings. The following year Belgium came to a similar conclusion and outright banned loot boxes, telling developers to remove them or face fines up to 800,000 euros and imprisonment. The US has also considered regulations, but it only amounted to lip service.

Of course, any laws against loot boxes or P2W mechanisms are inherently hard to enforce in an era of digital sales. When parents allow their kids to sign up to services like Steam or the PlayStation Network with their credit card, there is virtually no way to know if the person buying those loot boxes is over 18. Only physical sales can truly be restricted, and those are going the way of the dinosaur.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/88871-germany-considers-outlawing-sale-loot-box-games-minors.html

 

[psycros]

While this is a noble idea, as the article says, its basically unenforceable. Another idea would be to simply wall off the gambling and pay-to-win stuff by default which probably wouldn't require that much effort from developers. You'd have to provide proof of adult status to gain access. This should really be the norm with all games and would help to discourage both gambling addiction and P2W even among adults.

 

[Uncle Al]

Very easily enforceable ..... simple documentation of their existence in the game will be enough for a warrant to arrest and prosecute the offenders ..... now, finding a DA that has no children could be a challenge .... LOL

 

[duckofdeath]

It's indeed easily enforceable. As easily banned as anything else in these catered ecosystems they've locked us into. Literally no excuse for them not to figure out how to ban it.

 

[Avro Arrow]

Loot box games should just be banned, period. It's nothing more than unlicenced gambling.

 

[Theinsanegamer]

While this is a noble idea, as the article says, its basically unenforceable. Another idea would be to simply wall off the gambling and pay-to-win stuff by default which probably wouldn't require that much effort from developers. You'd have to provide proof of adult status to gain access. This should really be the norm with all games and would help to discourage both gambling addiction and P2W even among adults.

Very easily enforceable ..... simple documentation of their existence in the game will be enough for a warrant to arrest and prosecute the offenders ..... now, finding a DA that has no children could be a challenge .... LOL

It's indeed easily enforceable. As easily banned as anything else in these catered ecosystems they've locked us into. Literally no excuse for them not to figure out how to ban it.

You guys, this would be REALLY EASY to enforce. You know the game rating system? Well, make it law that any game with loot boxes that can be acquired with real money, even through tirtiary systems, must be rated AO/18+/ece. Most stores would refuse to carry such a product, hence why even today such a rating is extremely rare.

 

[VEGGIM]

You guys, this would be REALLY EASY to enforce. You know the game rating system? Well, make it law that any game with loot boxes that can be acquired with real money, even through tirtiary systems, must be rated AO/18+/ece. Most stores would refuse to carry such a product, hence why even today such a rating is extremely rare.

Except what about mobile games. Thing is most app stores don't allow adult only apps only rated M apps. Also that would kill alotnof games like fortnite which thrive on that revenue. And considering all the events and stuff seem to be aimed towards teenagers and younger kids with their content.

 

[Kirby1]

If game rating systems included I fo about gambling mechanics, and any game with loot boxes legally had to make very clear claims about gambling before purchase, that alone might be enough to stop this as people would avoid buying games that had gambling labels.

At least at a casino you know what to expect. All these loot box gambling games today are like a bait and switch. No one wants them but the devs sneak them in anyway.

 

[VEGGIM]

If game rating systems included I fo about gambling mechanics, and any game with loot boxes legally had to make very clear claims about gambling before purchase, that alone might be enough to stop this as people would avoid buying games that had gambling labels.

At least at a casino you know what to expect. All these loot box gambling games today are like a bait and switch. No one wants them but the devs sneak them in anyway.

True. But I can see how jrpg type games like genshin/dokkan battle/ and some other gacha like games will collapse in Germany. This is unless they create an app specific to Germany. But they won't do that. Cause at that point it defeats the purpose of dokkan lol.

 

[Ravey]

Just to go off on a tangent, in game currency that you have to buy should also be banned.

I want to spend my money on exactly what I want. I don’t want to spend money on currency, to then spend it in a loot box that only has a chance of me getting an item I actually want only to find that the remainder of the currency I bought is useless unless I buy more currency to make up the difference for another loot box.

 

[ypsylon]

Problem is that on-line game scammers like Wargaming.net adapted to that very quickly, after massive uproar in World of Warships Puerto Rico event (also known as #PayToRico or #WGPuertoRicoBailout) or 2020 x-mas Makarov scam, totally rigged calamity.

Yes they still sell normal RNG boxes which are banned from certain countries (e.g. Belgium), but they moved globally to create rigged RNG bundle system in the client where you spend internal game currency which you buy with money. It's trivial way to move around laws banning loot boxes. Truth is politicians are clueless beings which know nothing about the problem they facing. Biggest issue is - as long as (any) game has large enough number of whales which will buy EVERYTHING and ALL crap offered nothing will change.

Word of advice. If you have Friends: never recruit them into any of WG titles. You can still send invitation codes to your worst enemies tho. ;D Of course it's even worse in mobile games. Look no further than scam that Bleach Brave Souls are. KLab RNG is worst disaster in the World. I like Bleach, game is fun, but I implore you - Play for free only or buy stuff which is 100% certain, never buy Orbs/powerups/etc directly.

I agree that any in-game currencies should be outlawed period. Buy what I/you want exactly of FO scammers.

 

[VariableSpike]

They'll probably have to pull the loot boxes like Valve had to do with CS in Belgium and the Netherlands, though from what I have seen, people will just switch their country on Steam to open cases if they really want to, so it's not like it works 100%

 

[VEGGIM]

Problem is that on-line game scammers like Wargaming.net adapted to that very quickly, after massive uproar in World of Warships Puerto Rico event (also known as #PayToRico or #WGPuertoRicoBailout) or 2020 x-mas Makarov scam, totally rigged calamity.

Yes they still sell normal RNG boxes which are banned from certain countries (e.g. Belgium), but they moved globally to create rigged RNG bundle system in the client where you spend internal game currency which you buy with money. It's trivial way to move around laws banning loot boxes. Truth is politicians are clueless beings which know nothing about the problem they facing. Biggest issue is - as long as (any) game has large enough number of whales which will buy EVERYTHING and ALL crap offered nothing will change.

Word of advice. If you have Friends: never recruit them into any of WG titles. You can still send invitation codes to your worst enemies tho. ;D Of course it's even worse in mobile games. Look no further than scam that Bleach Brave Souls are. KLab RNG is worst disaster in the World. I like Bleach, game is fun, but I implore you - Play for free only or buy stuff which is 100% certain, never buy Orbs/powerups/etc directly.

I agree that any in-game currencies should be outlawed period. Buy what I/you want exactly of FO scammers.

What would be replaced with the in game currency then?

 

[Theinsanegamer]

Except what about mobile games. Thing is most app stores don't allow adult only apps only rated M apps. Also that would kill alotnof games like fortnite which thrive on that revenue. And considering all the events and stuff seem to be aimed towards teenagers and younger kids with their content.

Well I guess those games would have to either eliminate their loot boxes or figure out how to survive with just an AO rating and no store support. That’s the whole point.

Yes. These events and micro transactions ARE aimed at kids and vulnerable adults. That’s why we want them banned, they ruin games and hunger for your money. Have you been paying any attention?

What would be replaced with the in game currency then?

How about a we’ll made game that you pay for up front instead of a glorified wallet vacuum. How did games survive before the micro transaction craze?

 

[silversea]

I grew up in the '50s and 60's we did not have electronic games than that the children today have, but if whatever I wanted to spend money on whether it be a comic book or any other item that caught my interest I had to pay for it out of my allowance and believe you me when I tell you I worked hard for my allowance, only other way to get things is Christmas, Birthdays and kindness of heart (Mom and Dad felt good that day) and all this is because in my family the norm has always been to Work hard, Save like you mean it, Reap the rewards.

 

[VEGGIM]

Well I guess those games would have to either eliminate their loot boxes or figure out how to survive with just an AO rating and no store support. That’s the whole point.

Yes. These events and micro transactions ARE aimed at kids and vulnerable adults. That’s why we want them banned, they ruin games and hunger for your money. Have you been paying any attention?

How about a we’ll made game that you pay for up front instead of a glorified wallet vacuum. How did games survive before the micro transaction craze?

Well most mobile games off dokkan thrive doing that. Cause it keeps players to keep interacting with them. For dokkan if the in game currency was removed and everything was given for the cards. There would be no point for it at all because of how anyone could get the most strongest units, put it on their team and literally one shot every event. Think a better example would be dragon ball heroes. An arcade gacha game that has been thriving off of that. Since you get random packs where you can pull random cards. Those cars have different stats and there is also a meta to it. That game pulled like millions(probably billions) of dollars because of that system. SDBH:WM is how it's like when the gacha system is removed, somewhat. You still pay ingame currency for cards, but you can't use real money to gain it. You have to play the story do quests and other stuff like that.

 

[Cal Jeffrey]

You guys, this would be REALLY EASY to enforce. You know the game rating system? Well, make it law that any game with loot boxes that can be acquired with real money, even through tirtiary systems, must be rated AO/18+/ece. Most stores would refuse to carry such a product, hence why even today such a rating is extremely rare.

Yes. That is really the only way. I've seen a lot of responses saying that it is easily enforceable, but I disagree. It is virtually impossible to accurately ID someone's true age online. At best you can limit SOME minors from purchasing a game, but as I've said when Mom and Dad just let little Johnny have their CC number wide open on his Steam/PSN/XBL account so he can buy whatever he wants there is no way to determine those situations. Granted this is not the fault of developers. Absent parenting is the real problem IMO. But until there is a better system for determining someone's true age online, there isn't much that can be done other than removing loot boxes altogether, or as you said, make it Ao.

I won't lie I hate the--what did someone else call it?--"glorified wallet vacuum" (lol) that is MT/loot boxes. I never pay for anything in games unless I know what I'm getting (DLC, weapon packs, etc). However, I don't see RNG boxes going anywhere no matter how hard govt. push and rally against them. There is obviously a demand for them so devs will keep pushing them and will find and use loopholes where they can. Where they can't get around bans, they will just cut that country or region out of the business model. But as long as there are people willing to spend thousands of dollars per year on them, devs will keep selling them.

 

[ypsylon]

What would be replaced with the in game currency then?

Straightforward monetary value.

Let's go on with WoWs.

Want a certain ship - pay (e.g.) 37 Euro
Want pack of economic flags - pay 30 Euro (those are exactly available in shop)
Want extra credits - pay 25 Euros (also available in shop since forever)
Want pack of Coal - pay 50 Euro

WG said they will never sell both Coal and Steel (another two currencies which take a lot, especially Steel, freaking lot of time to accumulate). And ... they sell coal just fine in RNG boxes or as a random bundle for doubloons (main in-game currency). From RNG box you can get say signal flags, coal, Free XP, expendable camo. So one whale who buy 100 boxes can for example hoard 200000 Coal (at 2000 Coal/box) in space of 30 seconds and next one will get 200 expendable camos/flags (which are worth nothing when you are at the stage you have basically everything). Steel is also sold. Not directly but as a speed-up reward in Dockyard events. WG broke EVERY promise they made in last 6 years. It's just now about whaling while stock of *****s lasts.

Ah let's not forget about scam which is Research Bureau. Feature designed 2 years ago to scalp whales. You can accumulate - yet another currency Research Points - the hard way and easy way. Hard way requires to regrinding whole ship line from scratch, easy way requires to throw thousands of $ > buying doubloons > converting to FXP. To accumulate enough points to buy single good ship behind RB-wall you need at least 3 full regrinds with bonus modifier (20000 RP instead 10000) resetting every 3 months or you need like 9M of FXP which you can grind (takes a lot of time) or simply buy in the scheme outlined 2 sentences earlier.

In summation - because I can expose every dirty trick WG ever done here in great detail.

Ban the freaking RNG factor from items which have monetary value. RNG is OK if you grind some free stuff in game and then spend free stuff for free stuff. Example again WoWs. Per day you can obtain (grind) 3 free Containers. You can pick Credits RNG, Signals RNG, Resources (Coal) RNG - 99.9% of cases for everybody and Try Your Luck - total RNG. In all 4 options there is tiny fractional chance to obtain a Supercontainer. In those you can actually get some really impressive goodies, but of course chance for obtaining free ship, doubloons or 1500 Steel is infinitely lower than useless flags or camos. OK, promise that's the end.

Container - Global wiki. Wargaming.net

wiki.wargaming.net

 

[Cal Jeffrey]

Ban the freaking RNG factor from items which have monetary value. RNG is OK if you grind some free stuff in game and then spend free stuff for free stuff.

^^This right here^^

 

[VEGGIM]

^^This right here^^

I still don't get the rng part. Only gacha games I play are dokkan battle and drift spirits.

 

[ZedRM]

Forget that "just for minors" nonsense, outlaw them altogether!