Video games have become plagued with loot crates. While some games, like Overwatch, use loot crates in a relatively harmless way by dishing out cosmetic upgrades, not all games are as friendly towards gamers and their wallets. In response to the trend, review aggregator OpenCritic wants to take on loot crates by making it obvious which games include which systems for rewards.
We're going to take a stand against loot boxes. We're looking into ways to add business model information to OpenCritic.
— OpenCritic (@Open_Critic) October 9, 2017
OpenCritic shared early ideas for ways to relay this information effectively. A system is still in development, so these ideas aren’t formalized just yet. Right now, ideas include options for:
items that can only be earned by paying money compared to all items being unlockable by playing
prompts for paying extra while playing or if money talk is only relegated to the storefront
cosmetic upgrades only versus in-game bonuses
A random reward payout compared to a “sure thing/buy directly” system
100 percent completion with no payment
This may sound a bit like overkill from OpenCritic, but there are definitely reasons why this is important. For example, two upcoming games both have loot crates and use them in very different ways. Assassin’s Creed Origins will have loot crates, which can only be bought using in-game currency and will only give out items that players could otherwise earn by completing missions. That’s a much more consumer-friendly version than Star Wars Battlefront 2, where powerful in-game upgrades can be earned by players who spend the most.
Let us know your thoughts on how we can categorize and display "business model intrusiveness" on game pages in a fair and scalable way.
— OpenCritic (@Open_Critic) October 9, 2017
The goal is for the aggregator to include a “business model intrusiveness” score along with review scores. The games with more aggressive tactics, like giving players who pay money an advantage over those who don’t, will be punished more on the scale than those with more fair practices. This will help gamers who are looking for a good game that won’t nickel and dime them to experience everything. Hopefully, games that use aggressive systems will be more easily recognizable and made to change to a more consumer-friendly system.
So what do you think? Are you happy to see OpenCritic taking a stand against aggressive in-game purchases? What do you think of loot crates in games? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
