Asmongold succeeded in his plans. US Senator Ted Cruz reacts – and talks about loot boxes and gambling in games.
A few days ago we were talking about streamer Asmongold getting in touch with US Senator Ted Cruz and writing to his office to discuss loot boxes in games. Faster than probably expected from Asmongold, there was now a response.
What happened? Streamer Asmongold is fed up with microtransactions in general and loot boxes in particular. Especially after Diablo Immortal, he now wants to try to use his influence to draw the attention of politicians to the topic. He hopes that sooner or later loot boxes will be banned in more countries and classified as gambling. From his point of view, they not only destroy good games, but also the livelihoods of vulnerable people and children, who are brought up to gamble at an early age.
In one of his most recent streams, Asmongold announced that he had contacted the office of US Senator Ted Cruz from Republicans in hopes that a conversation, or at least an exchange, would result.
What happened now? In one of his most recent streams, Asmongold learns that Ted Cruz has responded to the request — and actually talks about it for quite a while. He did so on his own podcast, Verdict with Ted Cruz.
In fact, Cruz proves to be familiar with the subject here. While he doesn’t touch MMORPGs, he’s a casual gamer and has spent money in games to buy progress and “save 6 or 12 months of time”. Nevertheless, he emphasizes that he basically doesn’t like it when you can buy such advantages in games.
His co-host Michael Knowles didn’t excel on the subject and seemed to be thinking more about “Pac-Man” and “Donkey Kong,” even being rebuked by Cruz that “it’s definitely not about that.”
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What else did Cruz say? Perhaps most interesting is the statement that Ted Cruz is willing to listen to arguments and speak out on the subject. It is in his interest to protect children from gambling. However, he also believes that loot boxes and the ability for adults to spend money in a game is not necessarily something the state should have any power to stop or perhaps not interfere with.
In any case, he was willing to talk. And it should already be clear: If a conversation between the politician Ted Cruz and one of the biggest streamers, Asmongold, should really come about, it could probably set a new Twitch record.
How does Asmongold feel about this? Asmongold was clearly surprised and in a positive way. He hadn’t thought there would be such an extensive initial reaction. But he also emphasizes that he is not interested in other political views. Now that a Republican politician has reacted, he also wants to approach the Democrats – in his opinion, this should be much easier now that the Republicans have already reacted.
Asmongold repeatedly emphasizes that it is important to him that loot boxes and comparable mechanisms should at least be made inaccessible to children, which is an important first step. Which politicians he talks to in order to possibly achieve this goal is not so important to him. Otherwise, what they represent and say is just “background noise that isn’t important to the cause.”
What do you think of a US Senator responding to a Twitch streamer? A good thing that Asmongold started? Or in the end just a huge PR campaign by both sides?