Although there is evidence of a correlation between “loot boxes” on video games and problem gambling, the U.K. government won’t be following the example of Belgium, which banned them in 2018. Culture Minister Nadine Dorries said such a ban won’t be part of the overhaul of the country’s gambling laws.
Loot boxes have been criticized by the U.K. Gambling Commission (UKGC) as causing the “gamblification” of products not covered by gambling law.
Loot boxes are a feature on a number of popular non-gambling video games such as Call of Duty and FIFA football. They have been compared to gambling because players pay money to unlock in-game randomized rewards that are not known ahead of time.
Dorries said that the government will seek “industry-led” protections from gaming manufacturers. She said such a legal prohibition could have “unintended consequences.” For example, if a ban was put on children’s accounts, the children might seek to use adult accounts, which would have less parental oversight.
The correlation between loot boxes and problem gambling is not causation, said Dorries. The ban should not be imposed without first “enhanced industry-led measures to deliver protections for children and young people and all players,” she said.
Another reason for not linking loot boxes to gambling is that loot box rewards cannot be exchanged for cash. The commission has warned that some third-party sites allow this to happen.
A working group is expected to soon issue a White Paper on the Gambling Act Review. However, that has been delayed by the recent fall of U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government and the resignation of Gambling Minister Chris Philp. The gambling amendments have thus been delayed several times.
Association for UK Interactive Entertainment CEO Dr. Jo Twist commented, “As a responsible industry, we have committed to exploring additional ways to support players and parents to build on our existing work developing and raising awareness of parental controls. We look forward to engaging closely with the government and other organizations in the working group and on the Video Games Research Framework.”
