UK Lords report calls for action on Loot Boxes in games

[HEXUS]

Loot boxes in games introduce "games of chance" and should be regulated as such.

Read more.

[ik9000]

Good. about time. BBC article on the same here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-53253195

Now can they please do something about gambling advertising on TV too?

[Ttaskmaster]

What are they honestly gonna do, though? 'Strongly condemn' such things, and then go about their day?

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

They should just ban them...if games want to sell stuff,ie,a F2P game,then just sell it in actual money.

[edmundhonda]

What are they honestly gonna do, though? 'Strongly condemn' such things, and then go about their day?

It'll be something just as utterly toothless as the PEGI solution:

https://pegi.info/sites/default/file...%20example.png

[will19565]

They should just ban them...if games want to sell stuff,ie,a F2P game,then just sell it in actual money.

i hope they don't ban the likes of Overwatch loot boxes.
pay to win loot boxes can die in a fire, but leave my cosmetic loot boxes alone

[ilh]

They should just ban them...if games want to sell stuff,ie,a F2P game,then just sell it in actual money.

I agree, but then you also get games like World of Tanks where they sell individual tanks for ridiculous amounts.

[LSG501]

Good, as much as I hate 'pay to win' I do prefer to know what I'm buying with my money rather than essentially gambling with most lootboxes.

We already have enough of a gambling problem in the UK that we need to have gambling addiction bits added to gambling adverts (no idea why we allow them on tv etc...) so I've always found it strange that games have been allowed to introduce 'young people' to gambling at potentially an age where they don't even know what it is.

Belgium actively banned lootboxes, EA (our favourite games company) obviously complained of course and iirc even tried renaming them... but ultimately if we put thorough laws (which prevent them just being renamed) in place they'll need to comply.

[raygdunn]

I agree, but then you also get games like World of Tanks where they sell individual tanks for ridiculous amounts.

However paying a known amount for an known item is not gambling.

It is the same ln Black Desert Online (BDO) that I play. Loads of impressive custom player outfits at prices you would pay for an AAA grade game and have varying slight advantages in play. So a degree of pay to win.

More on the gambling side in BDO are the daily free play incentive (play for x hours) boxes, containing a useful item , with a rare chance of something very valuable in the game. OK no money there, but now that extends to similar random items in their real money shop, which most definitely is.

(I should add, BDO is a very extensive game that one can buy very cheaply or for a time was free. The developers have to make money, so there has to be a real money shop. But the random number generation that is basic to the gameplay is now being used as a money making incentive.)

[roger that]

I agree, but then you also get games like World of Tanks where they sell individual tanks for ridiculous amounts.

However paying a known amount for an known item is not gambling.

It is the same ln Black Desert Online (BDO) that I play. Loads of impressive custom player outfits at prices you would pay for an AAA grade game and have varying slight advantages in play. So a degree of pay to win.

More on the gambling side in BDO are the daily free play incentive (play for x hours) boxes, containing a useful item , with a rare chance of something very valuable in the game. OK no money there, but now that extends to similar random items in their real money shop, which most definitely is.

(I should add, BDO is a very extensive game that one can buy very cheaply or for a time was free. The developers have to make money, so there has to be a real money shop. But the random number generation that is basic to the gameplay is now being used as a money making incentive.)

Thanks for the advert

[Spud1]

I really don't want them to ban loot boxes themselves - that would be a real shame, as they can be a really nice game/reward mechanic, and in the vast majority of games that include them I really like the feature.

That said however, what I do what them to ban is *paying* for loot boxes. Giving them out as rewards for leveling up, or as an incentive for playing well (be that with similarly non purchasable in-game currency or just playing well) is great, particularly when combined with leveling systems.

The industry is slowly starting to move away from the concept anyway and towards "Battle pass" type implementations, which are (imo) much better and more upfront about what you get.

"Pay to Win" games (like Escape from Tarkov, for example) are a much bigger issue imo.

[Gentle Viking]

I am not playing any game with loot boxes in it, not even if you pay for them with grind or something else.
My reward playing a game is to see my skill go up, maybe rankings go up, but i dont want any other form of external validation otherwise.
And the only thing i want to see level up are my skill from laying the game hours on end.

Actually i think if a game need to reward people with something in game, well it must be a crappy game.
I just want good game, and i will make all the fun and seriousness out of it i feel like, and when i feel like.
Cuz some days i just feel like throwing the clan tags aside, and dick around.

[Saracen999]

Good. about time. BBC article on the same here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-53253195

Now can they please do something about gambling advertising on TV too?

+1.

Though, in a way, they're semi-related.

Paid-for boxes are one of the things that has ruined a lot of gaming for me. And sure, it's a form of gambling. But serious "problem" gambling wrecks lives and results in suicides. And, IMHO, the industry has done little beyond paying lip-service to dealing with it. If legislators are serious, deal with that first.