Josh Hawley, the Republican senator, has made waves with his proposal “Protecting Children from Abusive Games Act.” The bill would ban loot boxes and microtransactions in games “designed for children.” According to Hawley, children are the main focus of the bill.
Hawley revealed that the idea for the bill came from “being a parent of two little boys,” as well as “talking to a lot of parents.” He also mentioned that he has heard from “lots of gamers” about their worries about the increasing volume of microtransactions in all kinds of games. Hawley also said that his children do not currently play games at all.
According to Hawley, children may not “know the nature of these microtransactions.” Comparing them to casinos, which of course minors aren’t legally able to enter, he noted that this bill falls in line with other efforts to “regulate what our children are exposed to.”
