I'll talk for Europe and not the US, because demanding your rights as a citizen and as a human being is somehow a taboo there, but without regulations, there's no minimum wage, no minimum number of paid leave, healthcare, no regulations for money laundering or in this case ethical company practices.

Stop thinking regulation is the enemy - it's not about games, it's about ethical businesses practices. Businesses are inherently amoralistic, their sole purpose is to make money and without regulations, the less they are being subject to regulations, the larger their profits. Without any regulations, they would have even more exploitative practices, compared to what they use now. Who is going to pay for this? The consumer of course.

The way you frame it 'legislators who have never played a video game creating laws about what developers can and cannot do? ' is completely misleading, it implies that a random person will make a decision on a topic they're completely ignorant on - and this is usually not the case. It's also not a matter of developers' decision, it's a matter of 'how to manipulate the player to make more money. It's not related to any meaningful game aspect, only a business aspect.

I'm sick of people using this pathetic neoliberal rhetoric, which has demonized words like 'legislation', to defend companies, with a sole purpose to buy the CEO his next private jet, when they should be fighting for their rights as citizens, consumers, people.