Games with micro transactions will get a label in North America
The American Entertainment Software Rating Board will stamp a logo onto games with microtransactions and/ or other in-game purchases. The In-Game Purchases logo is placed on physical packaging and at download stores.
The Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) is an American self-regulatory organization that assigns age and content ratings to consumer video games. The new label is a direct reaction towards the outcry over loot crate systems in games like Star Wars: Battlefront II, Need for Speed: Payback and Destiny 2and have signaled a willingness to legislate them, reports polygon.
The labeling will “be applied to games with in-game offers to purchase digital goods or premiums with real-world currency,” the ESRB said in a news release this morning, “including but not limited to bonus levels, skins, surprise items (such as item packs, loot boxes, mystery awards), music, virtual coins and other forms of in-game currency, subscriptions, season passes and upgrades (e.g., to disable ads).”
The label will appear separate from the familiar ESRB rating label (T-for-Teen, M-for-Mature, etc.) and not inside it. Additionally, the ESRB has begun an awareness campaign meant to highlight the controls available to parents whose households have a video game console. The label is not designed to warn adult gamers that a game might contain microtransactions; it’s designed for concerned parents buying games for their kids. “Parents need simple information,” Vance said. “We can’t overwhelm them with a lot of detail... We have not found that parents are differentiating between these different mechanics.”
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Senior Member
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Joined: 2015-06-30
Far too lightweight in my opinion.
I'd have loved an 'odds-disclosure' at the very least if not outright making all titles containing microtransaction 'M for Mature' or 18(+) by default.
Senior Member
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What's the main demographic of 'whales' anyway? 40-something gamers? Those guys will be glad the ESRB has their best interests at heart...once they've decided on the actual logo...
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And this covers games with gambling?
Senior Member
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Joined: 2011-01-02
You have to buy item to do gambling, so gambling that involves money, should be covered.
Gambling within game is fine and shouldnt be regulated. (change 4 rare items to legendary, etc)
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Joined: 2014-07-21
So I guess 90% of the games sold will now get that sticker.