The concerns regarding youth getting addicted to online games are alarmingly high in the United Kingdom (UK). The law makers are at present analyzing the addictive technologies, video games and their loot boxes, in particular.
Loot boxes are paid-for packs in an online game and forms part of in-game items. The head of the gambling regulator, which is Gambling Commission in UK, Neil McArthur opined that Loot Boxes could seem to be a form of gambling but are hardly so. The reason, he explained, is the offering of loot-boxes depends on various circumstances in the game and does not include any prize of monetary value.
This makes it difficult to ascertain whether it is form of gambling. The uncertainty as to loot-boxes constituting gambling affects FIFA player packs, PubG games etc.
Mr. McArthur stated that “The Gambling Act tells us that gambling means playing a game of chance for a prize, and you can certainly see circumstances where a loot box might fall within that definition, but where things become a bit more complicated are when one looks at the definition of prize, and prize is defined as being money or money’s worth”.
However, because of the circumstances that player has to satisfy before being offered the loot boxes, it becomes difficult to place it under the category of gambling, he explained.
It is noteworthy that Belgium banned the loot boxes last year as its gaming commission opined that they represent an illegal form of online gaming