The US Federal Trade Commission will investigate loot boxes, chairman Joseph Simmons told a Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Tuesday. Simmons was asked to begin the investigation by Senator Maggie Hassan, who has previously raised concerns about loot boxes. Hassan asked the Entertainment Software Ratings Board to investigate the way it rates games with loot boxes earlier this year, warning that she’d get the FTC involved if it didn’t. There’s been
The US Federal Trade Commission will investigate loot boxes, chairman Joseph Simmons told a Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Tuesday. Simmons was asked to begin the investigation by Senator Maggie Hassan, who has previously raised concerns about loot boxes.
Hassan asked the Entertainment Software Ratings Board to investigate the way it rates games with loot boxes earlier this year, warning that she’d get the FTC involved if it didn’t. There’s been reluctance from the Entertainment Software Association, however, which oversees the ESRB.
ESA president Michael Gallagher defended loot boxes back in May and claimed that regulation would impair the ability of the industry “to continually test new business models”. He doesn’t believe loot boxes are connected to gambling.
“When you look at the definitions of gambling throughout the world, and how this is done and how it’s regulated in places like Las Vegas and the US, it’s quite different to the mechanism with loot boxes in games,” he said.
