Following the recently enacted bill in China involving online games, Blizzard Entertainment is in danger of changing some mechanics of Overwatch, particularly one pertinent to its loot boxes. Reports suggest that this might affect the North America players and the rest of the world.
Loot Box Changes
Loot boxes are common for online games. Overwatch, in particular, has these collectibles containing emotes, sprays, alternate skins, highlight intros and more. With the recent passage of a law in China concerning this, Blizzard Entertainment is likely to implement a few changes on this draw system which may include disclosing information on loot boxes.
Chinese Regulation For Transparency
A Chinese government website (via Google Translate) provides that "online game publishers shall promptly announce information about the name, property, content, quantity, and draw/forge probability of all virtual items and services that can be drawn/forge on the official website or a dedicated draw probability webpage of the game. The information on draw probability shall be true and effective."
As stated, online games hitting the Chinese territory including Overwatch will have to disclose information about items in the loot boxes including the kind, amount and properties. The law further mandates that records of items to be dropped must be provided for government inquiry to safeguard player privacy.
How Will It Affect North American And Other Regions?
Although this may seem applicable to players in China, a huge possibility that players from around the world will be affected by the changes. According to a report from Gamespresso, it remains unclear whether or not the North American market will be affected, but from the looks of it, it will. For one, tweaks may require more effort from Blizzard Entertainment and the developer might be forced to implement It across the board. However, similar report cited that certain "Korean games in the past have just changed their loot boxes per region."
What do you think of this regulation? Do you think Blizzard should implement to Overwatch players around the world? Comment your thoughts down below!
