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Germany Passes New Law for Games with Loot Boxes

Published

5 years ago

March 9, 2021

Niji Narayan

In-game Gambling and Loot Boxes Market is expected to expand its roots at an average CAGR of 5.6 % between 2022 and 2032

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The German federal parliament (Bundestag) has passed a new law for the games which have loot boxes.

According to a report in Spiegel, the Bundestag have passed the amendment ensuring that every game or other application that features loot boxes or similar in-game offerings will likely be classified with an age rating of 18 or even older.

Spiegel reports that the government wants to ensure that children do not come into contact with incentives to buy loot boxes or other in-game items with this reform of the Youth Protection Act.

As expected, this reform will not only affect future releases but also games that are already released and classified as harmless. FIFA 21 is one of the examples. EA’s football simulation is currently approved by the Entertainment Software Self-Regulation Body without age restriction.

But since the game features the mega-popular mode named “Ultimate Team” which features in-game purchases in form of card sets, it could soon get slapped with an 18+ rating, which would certainly be a major problem for EA.

Also, if the publisher wants to get a lower age rating for their game, loot boxes or any other in-game purchases would have to be disabled by default.

Related Topics:Bundestag Europe FIFA 21 German federal parliament Germany in-game purchases loot boxes Spiegel Ultimate Team Youth Protection Act

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Niji Narayan

Niji Narayan has been in the writing industry for well over a decade or so. He prides himself as one of the few survivors left in the world who have actually mastered the impossible art of copy editing. Niji graduated in Physics and obtained his Master’s degree in Communication and Journalism. He has always interested in sports writing and travel writing. He has written for numerous websites and his in-depth analytical articles top sports magazines like Cricket Today and Sports Today. He reports gaming industry headlines from all around the globe.