Another group has come out and called out the links between gambling and gaming loot boxes. The Royal Society for Public Health (RSPH) have published a report indicating loot boxes are “polluting” the youth of today, and should be considered gambling.
The report, titled “Skins in the Game,” calls for new regulations for the gambling industry in the U.K., but specifically so that gaming lootboxes could be added to their consideration. Their hope is that Boris Johnson’s new conservative majority will consider making changes, something their manifesto indicated it might do. It pointed to existing regulations as “analogue law in a digital age,” and promised to take a harder look at loot boxes.
If Johnson’s ministers listen to the RSPH, they would classify loot boxes as a gambling activity, effectively making them prohibited or with age restrictions.
The RSPH offered an explanation for the advisory. “Young people have told us that gambling and gambling-like activity are slowly but surely polluting hobbies and pastimes that have traditionally been beneficial to their wellbeing,” said RSPH chief executive Shirley Cramer. “Today, the vast majority of young people take part regularly in video-gaming and no doubt many will receive video games as Christmas presents.”
She also noted that this fear comes from young people themselves. “However, we, and the young people we’ve spoken to, are concerned at how firmly embedded gambling-type features are in many of these games. The rise of loot boxes and skin betting have seen young people introduced to the same mechanisms that underpin gambling, through an industry that operates unchecked and unregulated on the back alleys of the internet, which young people can access from their bedrooms.”
Dr Jo Twist, chief executive of video games body trade body Ukie, noted that the industry takes this concern seriously, and would work with the government on their review of regulations.
If the video game industry gets much influence in those discussions, not much might change. Influential publisher Electronic Arts has tried to label loot boxes as anything but gambling. That makes sense for them, as regulations could cut down on this major source of revenue for the company.
But the RSPH isn’t alone in their concerns. Government officials have called for similar changes, and U.S. Presidential candidate Andrew Yang has also promised loot box regulations, should he be voted in.
