Inspection organizations in Europe and US come with label for loot boxes in games

The Pan European Game Information, the European organization in charge of assigning age ratings to games, has created a label or designation for ‘random items’ in games. His American counterpart recently did the same.

PEGI writes that game publishers are starting to provide additional information about the properties of in-game purchases and whether that includes “random items” such as loot boxes or card packs. If so, in addition to the usual age label and, for example, the violence symbol, that game will also receive a new visual label for in-game purchases, which may or may not be accompanied by the textual addition of ‘paid random items’.

The visual symbol for in-game purchases is a hand holding a debit card, indicating that players can purchase items in that game using real money. This symbol is basically separate from the textual indication that a game contains paid random items. This often goes hand in hand, but there are also plenty of games that do not sell loot boxes, virtual cards or other items of which the content is not yet clear in advance. In that case only the visual symbol will be used. According to PEGI, less than 20 percent of approved games from 2019 contained in-game purchases.

According to PEGI, paid random items should be considered a form of optional in-game purchase and are therefore purchases whose contents are not known to players in advance. Examples are loot boxes, card packs or prize wheels. These can be purely cosmetic items, but also items that have a functional value in the game. The ‘paid’ element in the designation of paid random items not only points to the possibility of purchasing such items with real money, but also refers to the situation where items can be exchanged for virtual money, which in turn can be bought with real money. money can be purchased.

The Entertainment Software Rating Board, the organization that handles age ratings for games in the US, is also coming with a similar new designation. The ESRB already had a designation for in-game purchases, but now an addition is added for games that also contain random items. Unlike PEGI, the ESRB has not opted for a visual symbol and is only a textual notification.