Valve Corporation, a leading worldwide video developer, is limiting sales of loot box keys on its massively popular Counter Strike:Global Offensive (CS:GO) game, but not for the reasons you might be expecting. While debate rages about loot box culture and its potential role as a gateway to problem gambling, Valve is taking a look at…
Are video game loot boxes actually a form of gambling? More and more regulatory authorities and government agencies across the world are taking a hard look at this incredibly popular element of contemporary gaming and coming to the same conclusion. The most recent example of this phenomenon came this week when the children's commissioner for…
Loot boxes have always been something of a mixed blessing for the video game industry. On the one hand, the in-game prize/lottery system is wildly popular and raises plenty of revenue with almost no effort. But all that money comes with the price of increased scrutiny from regulators. In country after country, lawmakers have reviewed…
Loot boxes in video games are the true definition of the expression, "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder." After all, to video game makers, loot boxes represent an opportunity to boost revenue while giving players a chance to boost their fortunes in the game. To gambling regulators, however, loot boxes look more like…
Belgian Gaming Commission (BGC) is the latest group of gaming regulators to decide that video game loot boxes are, indeed, a form of gambling. In a report released yesterday, the BGC declared that loot boxes must be removed from video games sold in the country. Video game makers who are found in violation of the…
The potential that video game loot boxes are a form of gambling that should be regulated and licensed has emerged in Holland. Members of the Dutch Gambling Authority (DGA) have reviewed 10 popular (but unnamed) video games to determine whether or not their techniques for distributing loot boxes are in violation of Dutch gaming laws…
Young Swedish video game players may lose the thrill of purchasing loot boxes if their government prevails in its efforts to brand the video game feature as a form of gambling. Earlier this week the Swedish Minister for Public Administration Ardalan Shekarabi, made clear his intentions to reign in the growing practice of paying for…
Gaming regulators in New Zealand have ruled that in-game loot boxes are not a form of gambling. The decision is a big victory for the video game industry and its recent efforts to beef up revenue streams through loot boxes and other in-game transactions. The announcement regarding loot boxes came from the Gambling Compliance office…
Lawmakers and gaming regulators across the planet are grappling with a new controversy that definitely wasn't on their radars a year ago - are video game loot boxes a form of gambling? That question is on the minds of regulators in the UK and USA and, as of this week, the controversy has landed on…
If your last memory of playing video games involves an arcade, some quarters and Pac Man, you might not realize that the line between video games and gambling has blurred considerably in the last five years. Thanks to the growing use of "loot boxes" (in-game prizes that can be won, found or purchased) many video…
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