On 13 April 2020, PEGI announced that video game publishers will now be providing information about the nature of in-game purchases if these include randomised items, such as loot boxes. This information will be presented in the form of a notice on physical packaging and digital storefronts.
For the purpose of the newly announced descriptor, a “paid” random item is one that can be purchased directly with real money and/or those that can be exchange for an in-game virtual currency that itself can be purchased with real money. If a game does not include these paid random items, but contains in-game offers to purchase items, it will only display the in-game purchases descriptor.
The new feature notice will appear as follows:
TIGA welcomes PEGI’s move. However in TIGA’s 5 Principles for Safeguarding Players, we recommend that the existence of chance systems should not simply be disclosed upfront, but that the chances of content being received should also be explained in a simple and understandable way for players. TIGA will continue to encourage this approach to ensure the protection of games players.
For more information, please see PEGI’s announcement here.