Loot Boxes: Harmless Fun or Underage Gambling?

<p>There has been a raging debate in many quarters on whether <u><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;news&period;sky&period;com&sol;story&sol;video-game-loot-boxes-are-gambling-and-should-be-regulated-says-house-of-lords-12019532">loot boxes are gambling<&sol;a><&sol;u>&period; If you have been around the latest online games for the past five years&comma; chances are you have come across a loot box&period; Now&comma; whenever such a question is asked&comma; you are bound to get a plethora of responses in both directions&period; Recently&comma; concerns have been raised in the highest levels of government on this technology&period; So what are loot boxes and what is it about them that has garnered so much interest&quest; This article seeks to unpack these issues&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<figure id&equals;"attachment&lowbar;163516" aria-describedby&equals;"caption-attachment-163516" style&equals;"width&colon; 730px" class&equals;"wp-caption aligncenter"><img class&equals;"wp-image-163516 size-full" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;cdn&period;bagogames&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2020&sol;09&sol;18110807&sol;loot-box-are-they-gambling-BG-1&period;jpg" alt&equals;"loot boxes are they gambling" width&equals;"730" height&equals;"382" &sol;><figcaption id&equals;"caption-attachment-163516" class&equals;"wp-caption-text">This question is going to keep coming up&&num;8230&semi;<&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;<h4 class&equals;"western" style&equals;"text-align&colon; center&semi;"><strong>What are Loot Boxes&quest;<&sol;strong><&sol;h4>&NewLine;<p>So what is a loot box&comma; anyway&quest; Well&comma; the quick answer is it&&num;8217&semi;s an in-game purchase&period; It usually features the form of a virtual box-shaped container&period; You buy these boxes because they contain virtual items that you can use in the game&period; You don&&num;8217&semi;t know what you are buying&comma; you can only see what you get after you have made the purchase and opened the box&period; Game manufacturers came up with this idea as a way of generating revenue from their games&period; What used to happen was people would just get one video game&period; They would then copy and share amongst themselves&comma; cheating suppliers out of revenue&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h4 class&equals;"western" style&equals;"text-align&colon; center&semi;"><strong>Similarities to Gambling<&sol;strong><&sol;h4>&NewLine;<p>So why would anyone equate loot boxes to gambling&quest; We&&num;8217&semi;ll tell you right now&semi; the evidence makes a very strong case&period; Before we proceed&comma; you need to understand what is gambling&period; Defined simply&comma; this is when you engage in a game of chance hoping to get a reward&period; In slots games&comma; <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;bagogames&period;com&sol;how-video-games-and-gambling-are-connected&sol;">many players are gambling<&sol;a> to win real money&period; To take part&comma; the casino requires that you place wagers&comma; and maybe if you are lucky you&&num;8217&semi;ll win more or even hit the jackpot&period; You can try various games&comma; like the <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;jamsosindonesia&period;com&sol;">Joker123 slot<&sol;a>&comma; which offers big prizes and lots of bonuses&period; You must admit&comma; the language used in loot boxes and casino gambling sounds very similar&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h4 class&equals;"western" style&equals;"text-align&colon; center&semi;"><strong>Countries That Have Banned Loot Boxes<&sol;strong><&sol;h4>&NewLine;<p>Loot boxes have received much attention of late and for all the wrong reasons&period; In the UK&comma; a 2019 report highlighted the harms that come from the use of loot boxes in video games&period; In the report&comma; which is titled Gaming the System&comma; the Children&&num;8217&semi;s Commissioner cast a grim picture&period; The focus was on how loot boxes gave minors the impression that they are gambling&period; Other European countries also conducted their research and compiled scathing reports&period; After finding that loot boxes are in violation of their gambling laws&comma; these countries took swift action&period; The Dutch Gaming Authority and the Belgium Gaming Commission banned the use of loot boxes in games&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h4 class&equals;"western" style&equals;"text-align&colon; center&semi;"><strong>The House of Lords Gambling Committee<&sol;strong><&sol;h4>&NewLine;<p>The UK government seems to be eyeing the gaming industry and its insistence on using loot boxes&period; Removing all ambiguity&comma; the House of Lords suggested that loot boxes should be deemed as games of chance&period; In its 2020 report&comma; the committee advised that regulation of loot boxes was a matter of urgency and could not be delayed&period; This action has many repercussions for all stakeholders of the video gaming industry&period; Loot boxes would now have to be regulated under the Gambling Act of 2005&period; But if history is anything to go by&comma; this is easier said than done&period; Take Gamstop&comma; for example&period; Players who are listed can side-step the UK self-exclusion scheme by registering on <u><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;ukcasino&period;xyz&sol;">non UK casinos<&sol;a><&sol;u><&sol;p>&NewLine;<h4 class&equals;"western" style&equals;"text-align&colon; center&semi;"><strong>The Defendants&colon; EA Sports and other Game Providers<&sol;strong><&sol;h4>&NewLine;<p>Game developers have not taken the entire issue lying down&period; They have tried to put up a case for their defense&period; One of the chief arguments which have been floating around is that since loot boxes are not giving you cash&comma; then it cannot be defined as gambling&period; The textbook definition of gambling does imply that you should be receiving cash rewards&period; But this stance does not carry much credence&period; The internet is awash with exclusive loot box merchandise which is being sold for cash&period; The committee was also quick to point this out&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>So loot boxes do lend themselves towards gambling&period; The jury might still be out on whether tough measures will be instituted on loot box game manufacturers&period; But it seems the calls for regulation are growing louder by the day&period; Politicians from Europe to the United States are making the case against what they are calling &&num;8220&semi;<i>the exploitation of minors&&num;8221&semi;&period;<&sol;i><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; center&semi;"><em>This article contains sponsored links&period;<&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;