US politicians are also getting involved in the video game ‘loot box’ debate

It seems that politicians in the US are also getting involved in the video game loot box debate. Earlier today, we learned that the Belgium Gaming Commission do consider loot boxes to be a form of gambling and now, politicians in Hawaii are calling out EA's “predatory practices” with Star Wars Battlefront II.

In a YouTube video, US representative, Chris Lee of Hawaii, posted a video that calls for “future protections” when it comes to “the spread of predatory practices in online gaming”. The video is specifically addressing Star Wars Battlefront II. Lee goes as far as to brand the game as a “Star Wars-themed online casino designed to lure kids into spending money”. You can see the video below:

Chris Lee also happens to be a Reddit user. He posted on the r/gaming subreddit hours ago to add some additional details that weren't covered in the video. For starters, Lee says that he has been involved in discussions with a number of representatives from other states who are also thinking about trying to tackle the loot box issue.

For now though, we have only seen Hawaii step up to the plate. Over the next year, Lee will be looking at legislation which “could prohibit access, or prohibit the sale of these games” to those under the age of 21. They will also be looking at “prohibiting different kinds of mechanisms” in games where loot boxes are present.

KitGuru Says: Legislation like this would affect a lot more than Star Wars Battlefront II. This would have reaching effects for Overwatch, Rocket League, CS:GO, PUBG, essentially any game with a loot box system. Still, these are early days, it will be quite some time before we see change coming into place. There is also the possibility that this legislation won't get enough political support to pass through, so it's not a done deal just yet.

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