Hawaii introduces bills targeting loot boxes setting age requirement and odds

Hawaii is leading the way in addressing the problem of loot boxes thanks to Chris Lee and multiple bills have been proposed.

The bills tackle the problem on multiple fronts. First of all, they propose prohibiting the sale of a game to anyone under the age of 21 where there are randomised loot boxes that require payment. All games with loot boxes would also have to be labeled to show they included microtransactions and the odds of the rewards would also have to be disclosed.

Representative Chris Lee has been working on legislation for a number of months following the Star Wars Battlefront 2 controversy and these bills are the results of his research and consultations.

“I grew up playing games my whole life,” said state Rep. Chris Lee of Oahu talking to the Hawaii Tribune Herald. “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.”

With Activision Blizzard making massive amounts of cash from microtransactions as was revealed in their latest financials, any legislation rolled out across the US could hit the profits of the AAA publishers. It’s unclear how these new bills would be enforced should they pass in Hawaii but other states and coutries will be watching this very closely.