The United Kingdom's House of Lords has ruled that loot boxes should be classed as gambling, arguing that they should face tougher regulation under the country's existing gambling laws. Loot boxes have become commonplace in recent years and are one of the most popular types of microtransactions in games. However, they have also proven to be controversial with players due to the fact that they usually have to be purchased with or otherwise pressure players to pay real-money.
Loot boxes are essentially just monetized versions of the loot drops that have been common in games for many years. The main criticisms of the items focus on the way they offer randomized rewards and can be very costly, especially when bought in bulk. There have even been cases where Call of Duty have dropped them in favor of battle es.
The House of Lords, the lower house of the UK Parliament, has released a report that states that loot boxes are games of chance, otherwise known as gambling. As first reported by the BBC, the Lords have ruled the controversial in-game rewards should be classified as gambling and therefore come under the country's strict gambling laws. The official report claims that "if a product looks like gambling and feels like gambling, it should be regulated as gambling." Of particular concern to the Gambling Committee is the fact that loot boxes can be easily accessed by children, prompting them to say that "the government must act immediately to bring loot boxes within the remit of gambling legislation and regulation."
The UK is not the first country to look at regulating loot boxes. Belgium and the Netherlands havetaken a close look at loot boxes and other similar in-game purchases in recent months, with several bills put forward by lawmakers that seek to ban the practice.
It only seems like a matter of time before loot boxes face stricter restrictions around the world. Although they have become an important source of revenue for many developers and publishers, the concerns over gambling addiction certainly need addressing. This is especially true considering how easy it is for young children to purchase loot boxes in popular games, as well as the cruel threat of relapse that adult gambling addicts face when trying to play formerly innocent franchises. Many players might also be happy to see the back of them, as it would mean they don't have to spend real cash to unlock extra content - at least, not at random with duplicates frequently undermining every roll of the dice.
Source: BBC