Gaming
France Shows Concern About Loot Boxes
The Loot Box odyssey continues on! With even more positive news coming directly to the gamers themselves. This time, we have a France politician writing to local authorities about his concerns regarding the Loot Boxes in Star Wars: Battlefront II.
Meet Jerome Durain, a French senator who wrote to the Autorité de Régulation des Jeux en Ligne (Or Regulators of Online Games). The letter to the agency opens by praising video games and esports in particular for helping contribute to the cultural and economic growth of entertainment in France.
Despite all of the positives, Durain pointed out in his letter posted on Twitter that the video game world is constantly evolving, with one potential area of concern being the growing trend of loot boxes and microtransactions, as most recently brought to the forefront by Star Wars: Battlefront II.
#lootboxes je dépose une question écrite @mounir et écrit à l'@arjel pour trouver le meilleur moyen d'éviter des dérives pic.twitter.com/1p65PW4wjq
— Jérôme Durain (@Jeromedurain) November 16, 2017
He mentioned that there is some amount of worry among the gaming crowd that microtransactions could have a “deleterious” effect on the industry. Durain took issue with games that can offer loot boxes as part of a “pay-to-win” scheme, mentioning Star Wars: Battlefront II by name in making his point.
He also is an advocate to the solution I proposed in regards to Loot Boxes a few days ago. He doesn’t see an issue with having Loot Boxes that contain purely cosmetic items (Like in Overwatch). But he also sees that Battlefront II‘s loot boxes could be seen as a form of gambling, with the suggestion being that if they are, some amount of consumer protection may be advisable.
Durain said he also spoke with other key parties in France about this, including the country’s Secretary of State for Digital Affairs, video game consumer and developer bodies, and eSports organizations. With all of their input considered, Durain said he’s confident France can make progress towards action.
Here’s the bigger shock, this letter’s date was dated November 16. The same day the microtransactions were pulled out of the Star Wars: Battlefront II scene. And well, it seems like we’re going to keep seeing new legislation about this soon.
Love Is a Long Road, the Tom Petty song in the GTA 6 trailer, saw a 36,979% stream increase after Rockstar’s reveal this week. Week-on-week Spotify data suggests that, but we’re sure it’s trending similarly on Apple Music and others.
Rockstar and the streaming service released an official Grand Theft Auto Radio playlist with six hours of hits from ZZ Top, Dr. Dre, Megadeth, and others. You can hear it here. Ever wanted to listen to Tom Petty this week?
This week’s Game Awards—what to expect? Geoff Keighley is keeping most announcements under wraps, but he has teased an update on Atlus’ long-awaited Metaphor: ReFantazio. The Persona team’s latest project may be released in 2024, according to rumors.
The title returned this summer after being revealed eons ago, but details are scarce. A new trailer should show more story, gameplay, and systems, as well as a possible launch date. Want to see more of this? The link will tell you when the Game Awards are.
If you play video games, you’ve probably played Skyrim, Bethesda’s decade-old open-world RPG. It’s become a meme after endless rereleases. The company wants to sell paid, player-created mods again after not getting the message from players.
Bethesda tested selling Skyrim mods on Steam in 2015, generously giving modders 25% of the proceeds. After Steam’s 30% platform fee, Bethesda would receive 45%, the “current industry standard.”. After fan backlash, Bethesda removed paid mods, and Steam refunded all purchases.
In subsequent years, Bethesda’s Creation Club added user-created content to Fallout 4 and Skyrim Special Edition, requiring that it not violate lore. Bethesda could also release official Creation Club content on PlayStation.
The developer revealed Bethesda Game Studios Creations and a major update for the oldest RPG today. Players can still upload free mods, but creators can now apply for the Verified Creator Program. Certified modders can charge for their work. Since paid moderators no longer have lore-friendly restrictions, expect chaos.
This is already upsetting the community, and the line between official Creation Club content and moderators is blurring. The fact that paid mods disable PlayStation Trophies but not free Creation content is a disaster.
What do you think of Skyrim’s sorry state? Still playing? How’s the PlayStation Creation Club content?
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