The bill would ban video game chests and micro-transactions

Senator Hassan also wrote an open letter to the ESRB in early 2018, asking him to collect data on the use and revenue generated by micro-transactions in video games. The ESRB is responsible for providing a classification of the age of new games according to their content. Since February 2018, games rated by the ESRB have a label "Purchasing in the game" in case of micro-transactions.

The Entertainment Software Association, which operates the ESRB and represents the political interests of American video game companies, says that parents already have tools to control their children's online spending. ESA Executive Director and Acting President Stanley Pierre-Louis issued the following statement in response to Senator Hawley's comments:

"Many countries, including Ireland, Germany, Sweden, Denmark, Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom, have determined that the surprise boxes do not constitute a game We are looking forward to sharing with the Senator the tools and information already provided the control of spending in the game in the hands of the parents.Parents already have the opportunity to limit or prohibit purchases in the game through to a simple parental control to use. "

To learn more about the tools that ESRB provides parents to monitor their children's games, visit parenttools.org.