Loot boxes: Lords call for 'immediate' gambling regulation
The House of Lords Gambling Committee says video game loot boxes should be regulated under gambling laws.
The Lords say they should be classified as "games of chance" - which would bring them under the Gambling Act 2005.
"If a product looks like gambling and feels like gambling, it should be regulated as gambling," their report says.
And they warn that such a change should not wait.
"The government must act immediately to bring loot boxes within the remit of gambling legislation and regulation," said a statement accompanying the report.
Loot boxes have long been controversial in video games. They offer players a chance at a randomised reward when opened. To further complicate matters, boxes can often be bought for real money, and the rewards can sometimes be traded.
Lord Grade, chairman of the committee, told BBC Breakfast that lots of other countries have already started to regulate loot boxes because "they can see the dangers" which is teaching "kids to gamble".
He said the Gambling Act was "way behind what was actually happening in the market" but he added that the "overwhelming majority" of the report's recommendations "could be enacted today" as they don't require legislation.
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