The Sickening Truth Behind Cosmetic Gaming Microtransactions
1. Where's The Oversight?
In the case of video games, it's fair to say that the law is still catching up to the technology, for though ratings systems have been in place for years, most worldwide territories have yet to offer up clear regulation of microtransactions.
Though American politician Chris Lee famously took a stand against Star Wars Battlefront II's egregious microtransactions - dubbing it a "Star Wars-themed online casino designed to lure kids into spending money" - the AAA gaming industry still trots out MTX with only the most minimal oversight to protect those most easily-targeted by them.
Given that we have empirical proof of "buyer beware" warnings having little effect on curbing compulsive behaviour in the general gambling sphere, it's clear that the games industry needs to be more aggressively targeted to clamp down on practises which exploit the vulnerable, or encourage a culture which allows it to happen.
If a game can sell millions of copies - even tens of millions - and still "need" to clog itself with money-grubbing gumph, then something is fundamentally wrong with the way in which gaming is structured as a business.
And it's painfully clear that publishers cannot be relied upon to remedy the issue themselves, because why would they when money can be made otherwise?
The only way this will be solved is with an iron fist approach from worldwide authorities, but sadly progress seems to be slow, and the issue likely won't be solved any time soon.