Rachel de Souza of the British Children’s Commission opposes the loot boxes of video games, considers them “inappropriate” and requires them to be included in the definition of gambling in the UK Gambling Act.
This is the day after the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sports (DCMS) in the United Kingdom announced that it would not take legislative action against loot boxes two years after it began requesting evidence.
Instead, the department urged video game developers to deal with the presence of loot boxes in the game to prevent young people from gambling behavior or forming dangerous habits.
This involves DCMS creating a new group of developers and regulators to protect players.
DeSouza said that Article 6 of the Gambling Act needs to be extended to include loot boxes and should be subject to regulation.
“The current legal definition of gambling is 2005 Gambling LawIt’s not enough to win a loot box because the prizes can’t be converted into real money, “de Souza said. “Article 6 of the Gambling Act needs to be extended to capture loot boxes and included in the scope of regulation.”
She added that the government must take “firm action” against loot boxes and not hold parents or the industry accountable.
“The Children’s Committee believes that the government should listen to children and parents and take decisive action to prevent children under the age of 18 from buying loot boxes,” the committee said. rice field. “By relying on industry voluntary behavior and parental controls, many children are exposed to the financial and psychological harm of loot boxes.”
The commissioner also said that loot boxes promote “harmful behavior” among young people, most of whom are estimated to be playing video games.
“Online games make up a significant part of most children’s daily lives. It is estimated that 93% of UK children play video games,” said the commissioner. “Therefore, there is concern that some online games contain inappropriate features that encourage harmful behavior in children, such as loot boxes.”
