The video game industry is coming under increasing scrutiny as some products increasingly blur the line between gaming and gambling, leaving children at risk of developing gambling problems.
The Dutch Senate has proposed a law that would ban loot boxes in video games because they are seen as a form of gambling. This follows the introduction of a similar law in Belgium which has made such products illegal since 2018.
Loot boxes are purchasable in-game products that reward players with random game objects such as character outfits, weapons or players in the case of sports games like ‘FIFA’.
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Loot boxes can often be earned through playing games and accumulating in-game currency, but they can also be purchased directly with real money.
Recent research conducted in Australia has shown a link between these gaming products and problem gambling among adolescents.
“The concern is founded,” says UCD assistant professor Crystal Fulton, who sees loot boxes as the latest example of how modern technology can accelerate the development of gambling addiction.
“It speeds up play, it’s accessible and of course it can be done secretly.”
Children, she says, are especially vulnerable as it is difficult for parents to monitor what they are doing at all times.
“It can be very difficult to control that as a parent. Can you have oversight of what they’re doing every waking minute of every day? So, the best thing you can do is coach your kids.”
On loot boxes in particular, “it’s a murky area”, says Fulton. This is because it’s not always clear where the line is between gaming and gambling, which makes it difficult for legislators to grapple with. The constant development of new technology also makes it hard for regulation to keep up.
“It takes us time to understand what the technology is, how it works and if it’s harmful or not.
“It’s very interesting that The Netherlands are proposing legislation because clearly they feel that this is beyond what a family can mind on their own and that obviously the state needs to take action.”
Barry Grant, a counsellor and project manager at Extern Problem Gambling, also sees these products as a danger to young people.
“What concerns us about loot boxes in games like ‘FIFA’ is that it normalises gambling for young people. There are no warnings in the way that there would be with other gambling products and a lot of gamers would say that the only way to get to the level you want in these games is by purchasing loot boxes.
“They have this kind of psychological gambling mechanic built into them although you can’t cash anything out and I suppose that’s the only main difference.
“It would be our concern that it’s a kind of a training ground, or grooming ground, for gambling and that it normalises it.
He also see this as another way in which gambling is infesting the gaming industry, pointing to the fact that teams in ‘FIFA’ are often sponsored by betting companies, or that some games like ‘Grand Theft Auto’ have in-game casinos.
“There are more and more games for younger kids with no age limits on them that have all these different forms of gambling in them and it wires the brain to get into gambling and see gambling as a normal activity.”
Many of the people who come to Extern for help are in their 30s but have often starting gambling at a young age. For this reason, he would be in favour of legislation that would impose age limits on this kind of activity.
“For children’s games, from my perspective, it’s a no-brainer. We don’t allow children to play the National Lottery, which is at the lowest end of the scale in terms of harm. We don’t allow children to gamble in any form so why should we allow children to gamble on these things?”
“I think a lot of other countries (apart from Belgium and The Netherlands) are sleeping at the wheel.”
He also sees the challenges of regulating tech-based industries due to the speed of technological development but still sees it as worth doing.
“It’s tricky but it’s not impossible to do the right thing around this.”
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