We believe that any gambling-related harms associated with gaming should be
recognised under the online harms framework. To inform this work, the Department
for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport should immediately establish a scientific
working group to collate the latest evidence relating to the effects of gambling-like
mechanics in games. The group should produce an evidence-based review of the effects
of gambling-like game mechanics, including loot boxes and other emerging trends, to
provide clarity and advice. This should be done within a timescale that enables it to
inform the Government’s forthcoming online harms legislation. (Paragraph 72)
8. We recommend that loot boxes that contain the element of chance should not be sold
to children playing games, and instead in-game credits should be earned through
rewards won through playing the games. In the absence of research which proves that
no harm is being done by exposing children to gambling through the purchasing
of loot boxes, then we believe the precautionary principle should apply and they
are not permitted in games played by children until the evidence proves otherwise.
(Paragraph 79)
9. Loot box mechanics are integral to major games companies’ revenues and evidence
that they facilitate profiting from problem gamblers should be of serious concern to
the industry. We recommend that working through the PEGI Council and all other
relevant channels, the UK Government advises PEGI to apply the existing ‘gambling’
content labelling, and corresponding age limits, to games containing loot boxes
that can be purchased for real-world money and do not reveal their contents before
purchase. (Paragraph 86)
10. We agree with the Gambling Commission that games companies should be doing
more to prevent in-game items from being traded for real-world money, or being
used in unlicensed gambling. These uses are a direct result of how games are
designed and monetised, and their prevalence of undermines the argument that loot
boxes are not a form of gambling. Moreover, we believe that the existing concept of
‘money’s worth’ in the context of gambling legislation does not adequately reflect
people’s real-world experiences of spending in games. (Paragraph 97)
11. We consider loot boxes that can be bought with real-world money and do not reveal
their contents in advance to be games of chance played for money’s worth. The
Government should bring forward regulations under section 6 of the Gambling Act
2005 in the next parliamentary session to specify that loot boxes are a game of chance.
If it determines not to regulate loot boxes under the Act at this time, the Government
should produce a paper clearly stating the reasons why it does not consider loot boxes
paid for with real-world currency to be a game of chance played for money’s worth.