Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony have teamed up to minimize the negative impact of loot boxes on their platform games.
For those who don’t know, loot boxes are kind of boxes that can be purchased in games, usually through microtransactions, and offer varied items that depend on chance. That is, buying a loot box may not be enough to guarantee that desired skin or weapon. Then the user is urged to spend a lot until that object comes out of the draw.
With the agreement promoted by these three, every developer from a moment yet to be combined in 2020 will be required to make explicit on Xbox Live, PlayStation Network, and eShop the rates of occurrence of items in these boxes. This way a player can decide with more complete information worth spending to try to purchase an item with an occurrence rate of only 5% or even less.
This agreement will only apply to new games from this date which will still be agreed upon. As the PC platform was left out, this initiative should take place at the discretion of the distributors. Some who have agreed to do so are Activision Blizzard, Bandai Namco, Bethesda, Bungie, EA, Take-Two Interactive, Ubisoft, Warner Bros., and Wizards of the Coast.
The loot box noxious controversy began after Star Wars: Battlefront 2 was accused of abusing them to profit. The game’s image was so affected that it was reshaped and quickly removed the system. However, with this discussion on the rise, even some countries began to legislate on this microtransaction model. In some regions, it is on the way to becoming as harmful as addiction/gambling.
Remember, this is not the first time that the three giants of the video game market have come together: not long ago they all signed a manifesto to Donald Trump, claiming that a new 25% tax on consoles – which are produced in China – They tend to destabilize a market that injects a lot of money into the United States and is responsible for employing thousands of Americans.
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And you, what do you think about loot boxes? Tell us in the comments!
Source: www.theverge.com