A press release from the UK government’s Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) calls on video game makers to step up protections to prevent children from buying loot boxes in their games. The statement also said the government “will not hesitate to consider legislation if companies do not take sufficient steps to keep players safe.”
In July 2020, the UK House of Lords said loot boxes should be classified as gambling, and an April 2021 report from the universities of Plymouth and Wolverhampton called loot boxes “structurally and psychologically similar to games of chance. A 2020 request for evidence from DCMS found that “players who purchase loot boxes may be more susceptible to in-game harm, mental health, financial, and gaming-related issues.”
Furthermore, the report says these risks may be greater for children and young people, which led to the UK government’s latest call to make the purchase of safes “off limits to children and young people unless authorized by a parent or tutor”. Culture Minister Nadine Dorris said the government wanted to “prevent children from spending time online without parental consent”.
Dorris goes on to say that “game companies and platforms need to do more to enforce controls and age limits” to protect younger players from the lure of loot boxes and other in-game purchases. Children should be able to play safely while giving parents and caregivers the peace of mind they need.”
DCMS points to steps already taken by platforms, including Xbox, to enable options that require parental permission for players under the age of 18 to spend money on in-game items. The government says it wants to “use it with strong privacy protection.” children at play. industry and will not hesitate to consider legislation” if it feels that measures taken by companies are not enough to keep young players safe.
The DCMS also said it was convening a new group to “bring game companies, platforms and regulators together to develop industry-wide measures to protect players and reduce the risk of harm.” He lists “transparent and accessible information” about the nature of in-game loot boxes and parental spending controls as measures he hopes to see implemented.
One of the most mentioned games is EA’s (now EA Sports FC) FIFA series, which caused a lot of consternation with its Fifa Ultimate Team card games. Blizzard is ditching loot boxes for Overwatch 2 in favor of a seasonal monetization model, while Diablo Immortal’s old rifts are often compared to loot boxes, but at this point it’s unclear how any potential regulation would play a role. impact on these games.
In addition, the British government announces the launch of a video game research platform aimed at improving the “understanding of the positive and negative impacts of video games”. In May, consumer groups from 18 European countries endorsed a report prepared by the Norwegian Consumer Council that called loot boxes “exploitative” and “predatory,” and called for better regulation of the industry.
Source : PC Gamesn
