Hawaii legislators looking to put age restrictions on loot crates in gaming

There’s been an ongoing controversy over paid loot boxes in video games. Previously, Belgium had ruled that loot crates in Star Wars Battlefront II could be classified as gambling. Speaking in terms of the United States, Washington Senator proposed a bill that aimed at regulating the loot crates practice via the state’s gambling commission.

It appears that another state is joining the lot to possibly regulate loot crates dilemma. The state of Hawaii is looking to limit gaming systems with a couple of bills proposed by state legislators. One of the these bills would restrict sales of games that include loot crates to the over-21 crowd.

According to the Hawaii Tribune-Herald, at this time, there are two pairs of bills aimed at video games like EA’s Star Wars Battlefront II. House Bill 2686 and Senate Bill 3024, would seek to prohibit the sale of any games that include loot boxes that can be purchased with real money to anyone under 21 years of age. The second pair of bills, House Bill 27272 and Senate Bill 3025, would force gaming publishers to clearly label games that have randomized purchase systems, as well as disclose the probability rates of specific loot box rewards in their systems.

“I grew up playing games my whole life,” State Representative Chris Lee told the Herald-Tribune. “I’ve watched firsthand the evolution of the industry from one that seeks to create new things to one that’s begun to exploit people, especially children, to maximize profit.”

Originally published at The Jolt Journal.