Well, that's unfortunate. Gaming has been lucky to avoid most regulation. I hope government will stay the fuck out of it.

Governments certainly are not obligated to intervene. They are just butting their head in, like they do everywhere. 

And, it seems to me that the industry is self-regulating just fine.  They pulled back on loot boxes significantly once the public outcry grew.  At this point, I don't see them as anything remotely close to a problem.  They exist in some games, but they're not a big deal.  

Regardless of that, government intervention always causes problems.  They do a bad job of just about everything, as it seems that governments in general just don't get the concept of "unintended consequences." Gaming is likely to get a taste of their ruination here.  

Is this a joke post because when something begins getting out of hand a Government is obligated to get involved in this case loot boxes are a gambling mechanic so now the law is catching on to the fact that they'll need to be subject to gambling laws as real money is spent on the mechanic and is in a product that many children have access to on top of that the industry is also far from self regulating itself fine anyone with two eyes can see that they're more pushing to see what they can get away with this is why Governments and regulators are now taking note.

The whole SWBF2 and Middle Earth:SOW debacles highlight this in how the industry is not self regulating but instead implementing designs in games that force the use of the said mechanic.

I need to ask, since I might have missed it, does Ubisoft use lootboxes? Just looked up and got trails, anything else? 

My pants are still around my ankles. This, Bethesda, Trump. I feel so vindicated.

Maybe they will go back to actually creating good game experiences now. I'll pay $100 fpr a game that is worth it, but I won't buy a game built around money schemes.

Well Damn.
You know it's bullshit when the federal government is getting involved.

So, what happened to loot boxes since those games?  There was public outcry, and publishers responded by scaling back loot boxes.  That's essentially the definition of self-regulating.  

I can't speak for every country in the world, but I am certain that there is nothing in United States law that says the federal government must regulate video games. So, by definition, they are not obligated.

Literally every industry is trying to get as much money as possible.  That's the point of business.  And, yes, the video game industry has given us a great example of self-regulation.  You may not remember, but there was much whining about violence in video games in the early 1990s.  So, the publishers formed the ESRB to rate games.  

Loot boxes absolutely have been scaled back, generally speaking, since their peak 1-2 years ago.  There's just no denying that.  They haven't gone away, nor do they need to.  They just went to far, realized their mistake, and pulled back.  That's exactly how it is supposed to work.  

If government gets involved, what we'll see is a prohibition on loot boxes.  But, games won't suddenly cost less money to make and market.  So, the lost revenue will be made up elsewhere.  How does that help anyone?  Right now a big chunk of that money is paid by people who enjoy buying loot boxes.  After regulation, those costs will be paid by every gamer.  Nobody gets to enjoy loot boxes, but everybody gets to pay.  No thanks.  

More importantly though, people buy and play games of their own free will.  If one doesn't like loot boxes, one should not buy games that have them.  Whining to government to remove them from games is just a cop out.  Gamers (and parents, in many cases) need to take responsibility for their actions (or those of their young children) and not try to ruin the fun for the rest of us.