18 countries back report calling for loot box regulations

gamesindustry.biz:

Danielle Partis

News Editor

Wednesday 1st June 2022

The Norwegian Consumer Council has released a new report on the ongoing impact of loot boxes on the games industry, backed by 20 consumer groups in 18 European countries.

The report gives an outline of the history of monetisation in games, and how practices around loot boxes and in-game currency have evolved to "exploit consumers."

It highlights "deceptive design" in games, tricks that "exploit cognitive or behavioural biases to incentivise spending." Loot boxes are also frequently marketed aggressively by "advertising the possible rewards," which is also considered deceptive by the report.

Two case studies of particularly predatory practices are also included in the document -- it details how loot boxes are implemented in FIFA 22 and Raid: Shadow Legends, and the problems it presents.

The report rounds up by listing several actions that the industry and its regulators can take to improve the landscape around loot boxes. This includes:

It adds that if these remedies do not alleviate the issues, the industry should consider a ban of paid loot boxes in games altogether.

Conversations around loot boxes and legality have been ongoing. In 2018, the Belgian Gaming Commission ruled that the implementation of them in games breached multiple gambling laws in the country.

That same year, EA found itself embroiled in a four-year long discussion on whether FIFA's card packs should be seen as gambling under Dutch legislation. In the end it was decided that loot boxes are not subject to gambling laws if they follow a certain criteria.

Since then, handfuls of publishers including Nintendo, Blizzard, and Konami have stopped sales of loot boxes in Belgium, as well as other territories that