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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Rob Davies

Video game firms found to have broken own UK industry rules on loot boxes

Two boys playing online games
Experts have warned that the mechanics of loot boxes in games encourage gambling-style behaviour among children. Photograph: Milan_Jovic/Getty Images

The UK government’s decision to let technology companies self-regulate gambling-style loot boxes in video games has been called into question, after some of the developers put in charge of new industry guidelines broke their own rules.

In the past six months, the advertising regulator has upheld complaints against three companies involved in drawing up industry rules, including the leading developer Electronic Arts (EA), for failing to disclose that their games contained loot boxes.

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