Dangerous for children: why the US wants to ban Luthboxes in games
'01.12.2018'
Source: Today
The US authorities have promised that they will take up the investigation of the problem with Lutboxes and Donat in modern mobile and computer games. The chairman of the US Federal Trade Commission, Joseph Simons, asked Congress to pay attention to the danger of microtransactions.
According to the chairman, in-game purchases in free games should be equated to dangerous psychological dependence, along with addiction to gambling, writes Today. Moreover, they are detrimental to children, especially their fragile psyche.
Wikipedia: Lutbox (sometimes used the name "case" or "container") - a virtual object in computer games, using which the player receives random virtual objects of various values and purposes. Such items obtained from luthboxes can be either purely decorative, only changing the appearance of the game character, and affecting the gameplay - for example, rare armor or weapons.
Wikipedia: Donation Is the slang term for microtransactions in computer games. Microtransactions, or micropayments, are a popular business model for distributing downloadable content or accessing services provided at low prices (usually around $ 10).
American magazine Broadcasting Cable reports that a lively discussion took place during the FTC hearing on Facebook and Google oversight after a leak of data from research firm Cambridge Analytica and some comments about antitrust laws.
The conversation touched upon issues related to manipulative marketing in relation to children's content. It was said that in-game purchases, as well as purchases at Google, YouTube are aimed at young children.
Senator Maggie Hassan mentioned that analysts predict that by the 2020, the Luthbox market would be valued at 50 billions of US dollars, and such operations in the gaming industry are massive.
Lutboks, like Donat, force players to pour money into free games. Sometimes the income from one player is more than the usual paid game costs - more than 60 dollars. Moreover, Luthboxes are dangerous in that they are equated with gambling - a gamer invests more and more money to get the coveted skin for a weapon or a beautiful appearance for his virtual character, causing dependence on in-game purchases.
