Consumer Protection Bill to Restrict Purchasable Items in Pokemon Go, Players under twenty-one Years of Age May no Longer be Able to Purchase In-Game Items
Due to a controversy that is circling around Loot Boxes and Microtransactions, the players of Pokemon Go can possibly be affected, even though the mobile game does not have loot boxes. We can see many Microtransactions in the game and many prizes that cost real-world currency.
The consumer protection bill is made to protect the younger gamers by making it illegal for retailers to sell a game to the ones below 21 if the title contains a purchasable item. If the Hawaii house bill 2686 passes, it could seriously change the game.
In Pokemon Go, we can see Raid Passes and Incubators being purchased, but with a currency that can also be earned in-game. But because of the wording of this legislation, it seems that they would fall in the restricted category.
A long time will pass before this law could go in place, but if it does it will impact the PoGo community. A small percentage of PoGo’s player base lives in Hawaii, but it is proven that states copy laws of other states to protect themselves.
A complicated debate over microtransactions and randomized for-play content in games do not seem to be going away. We think that the next few years will determine if the developers will stop this trend.
