Posted: May 13, 2019 9:03 pm
aban57 wrote:I think it's 2 different things. ESRB classifies a game regarding its content. The more/stronger the inappropriate content for kids, the higher classification you get. However, that doesn't say anything about the audience of a game. Tetris could be (and most likely is) rated 3, but it's not aimed at 3 y/o kids. Which means under such law, Tetris couldn't have any microtransactions because it's "aimed" at kids, when it's not. Pay-to-win games are big shit and unfair, no matter the age of the players.
I don't see a huge problem with classifying micro-transactions as a form of content which necessitate a higher rating. Say you have a game like Tetris which would normally have a low rating but then they add micro transactions and that automatically bumps it's rating up to something higher, whatever the appropriate level of is considered to be.
It would force game companies to decide what's more profitable - access to a larger market via a lighter rating or micro transactions.