8 Reasons The Video Game Industry Is Headed For Disaster (Again)
7. Lack Of Regulation
The games industry's continued autonomy is in jeopardy and it has nothing to blame but its own greed.
With monetisation methods growing increasingly aggressive and in-game storefronts peddling content that should otherwise be free of charge in full-price products, certain sovereignties have tired of the industry's own inaction and begun passing its own legislation to curb the current trend.
Both Belgium and the Netherlands have taken steps to ban the sale of digital blind boxes in games like Overwatch and with more taking an increasingly large interest in its affairs, sitting idly by and hoping the problem resolves itself is no longer an option.
The ESRB's so far weak attempt to quiet negativity has done little to halt such monetary aspirations, only adding a blanket term to all titles with in-game purchases, regardless of their severity. It's not enough. Underhanded attempts - as was the case recently with Black Ops 4's post-launch insertion of microtransactions - to bypass initial negativity is just one exploitative example that simply wouldn't be possible if proper regulations were in place.
By all means, continue to ignore the warning signs. If the offending parties don't exercise some self-restraint soon, it'll be done for you.