Earlier this week, a list of publishers were revealed to be on board with a recent statement released by the ESA with Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony regarding loot box transparency. There was a small list of publishers revealed to be in favor of revealing the odds of loot box items was made public and continues to grow. Though Epic Games was not on the initial list that went public, the mega gaming company has released a statement in favor for this move across their plethora of gaming content.
For those familiar with Fortnite, the publisher already began this move with previous updates within its Save the World mode but now they are looking to take that a step further in the future and not just one or two games. In a recent statement to GameIndustry.biz, Epic mentioned “Earlier this year, the Fortnite Save the World team made a change that showed players every item that they would get in a paid llama before opening it. Earlier this week, the team at Psyonix announced a similar change coming later this year to paid crates in Rocket League. Going forward, we’re committed to the same transparency for player purchases in all Epic Games titles.”
When Epic was noticeably absent from the initial list of publishers ready to commit to transparency, though we mentioned that the list was not a final representation of which companies pledged their support. Following the original statement going live, more companies have been more vocal about what their stance is on this matter.
For those that missed the original statement from the ESA, “Many other ESA members are considering a disclosure,” reads the joint statement. “The disclosure will apply to all new games and updates to games that add such in-game purchases and will be presented in a manner that is understandable and easily accessed. Taken together, these disclosures will help reach consumers playing across a variety of games, including PC games and other games delivered outside of the platforms.”
The nature of loot boxes in themselves is nothing new, but through the years have evolved from harmless cosmetic additions to pay-to-win manipulations. Following several major controversies, including that of Star Wars Battlefront II when it first launched with EA, the nature of how these in-game microtransactions work has been called into question with various legislations investigating their worth, and their negative impact, in terms of consumer relations.
