UK gov’t puts videogame loot boxes in its regulatory sights

Loot boxes in online video games could be classified as gambling products depending on the results of a new UK government impact study.

On Monday, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), the branch of the government which oversees gambling activity, announced plans to launch a call for evidence into “the impact of loot boxes on in-game spending and gambling-like behavior.”

The DCMS said it was prompted to act by its Select Committee’s report on Immersive and Addictive Technologies, which recommended that the government introduce regulations “to specify that loot boxes are a game of chance.”

The Committee also recommended that loot boxes containing an element of chance “should not be sold to children playing games” and games that contain such boxes should be labeled as gambling products with corresponding age limits. The Committee also urged the DCMS to establish a framework for ‘duty of care practices’ for eSports.