In May 2019, Senator Josh Hawley introduced a bill called
The Protecting Children from Abusive Games Act (the
"Act") to regulate "pay-to-win
microtransactions" and the sale of "loot boxes" in
video games sold in the United States. The bill follows similar
moves by European gaming authorities that banned the sale of loot
boxes in video games in Belgium and the Netherlands, as well as
even earlier regulatory measures in Japan. It also builds on
state-level regulatory action against loot boxes and skingambling in Washington state.
If adopted into law, it will require fundamental changes to how
many games generate revenue, since it could effectively outlaw many
of the most common monetization strategies for both paid and
free-to-play (F2P) games.
