The gambling support charity, GambleAware, is calling for legislation from the UK government to limit the use of loot boxes in video games, saying that they are particularly concerned about exposing children to this concept that is often compared to gambling.
With the UK government publishing its findings from a call for evidence launched in September 2020, renewed opinions started up about the chance nature of loot boxes, which offer some aesthetic prize to gameplayers, like a weapon or armour skin, for a financial trade.
The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport hasn’t put in place an outright ban on loot boxes yet and instead calls for game developers to take more action to protect players.
This is not enough for GambleAware, who released a statement following reading the white paper.
GambleAware said: “Research has shown that loot boxes are psychologically akin to gambling, and therefore more adequate protection would help to prevent future gambling related harms. Gambling is a part of children and young people’s daily lives, and children are thought to be more vulnerable to gambling harm, both as a result of someone else’s gambling and their own participation.
“There are around 55,000 children experiencing gambling harms aged 11 to 16 in the UK, according to the National Audit Office, with a further 85,000 estimated to be at risk and we believe more needs to be done to prevent harm among children and young people.
“We look forward to the publication of the Video Games Research Framework later this year, which we hope will guide and inform legislation to protect children and young people from gambling related harms through video games.”
