Video Game Loot Boxes Under Scrutiny By 16 Gambling Regulators (cnet.com)

An anonymous reader writes: Gambling regulators from 16 agencies signed an agreement Monday in an effort to tackle the "blurring of lines between gaming and gambling." The international coalition, made up of European agencies and the Washington State Gambling Commission, said it's calling on the video game industry and tech platforms to help crack down on unlicensed third-party sites offering illegal gambling in video games. The coalition also said game providers have to make sure that features like loot boxes, which let players pay real money to purchase in-game items to artificially advance their power levels, aren't considered gambling under national laws. This kind of pushback could impact the decisions of video game makers. UK-based Gambling Commission said in a statement: "We are increasingly concerned with the risks being posed by the blurring of lines between gambling and other forms of digital entertainment such as video gaming. Concerns in this area have manifested themselves in controversies relating to skin betting, loot boxes, social casino gaming and the use of gambling themed content within video games available to children."

Comments

Wizards of the Coast should worry

[MikeRT]

Every collectible card game like Magic is the same deal. You can't drop $20 on Magic and walk right into a tournament and not get hopelessly slaughtered unless you are a step short of Ender Wiggin come to life. It's all "gambling" on some level if you use that logic.

Re:Wizards of the Coast should worry

[Anonymous Coward]

The difference is that gives you a tangible product. Wizards cannot ban me from playing MTG, nor can they disallow me from using proxies or fake cards, and are not obligated to allow tournament entry (nor are you entitled to it). I am free to sell and trade the cards I acquire, I cannot do this with the majority of lootbox or gacha games and when I can it's often trapped on another market.

In addition, if WOTC goes belly-up tomorrow, I still have my cards, can still play the game, and can even organize (unofficial) tournaments. If Waifu Simulator Gacha 2018 shuts down, all my stuff is gone and I can't get anything back. If EA bans my Origin account, then all my shit is gone for good unless I do serious dicksucking or file a lawsuit. If Blizzard shuts down the WoW servers, they will DMCA any private servers that spring up, even non-profit ones.

That's the difference between the two.

cards?

[cascadingstylesheet]

What about those card games where you buy packs of cards, hoping to get some special powerful cards in them?

If loot boxes are gambling, why aren't those card packs?