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    Loot boxes, skins and player packs should be regulated immediately, says a Lords committee.


    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.

    Comment


      I said it before, as soon as you are forced to put Fifa behind a counter and only sell it to adults is when loot boxes become poison to publishers.

      Comment


        Originally posted by QualityChimp View Post
        https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-53253195

        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.

        So which MP’s kid spent 10k on gambling in fifa to prompt this then?

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          Interestingly had an email about this from the 'Petition to extend gambling laws to cover lootboxes' on the parliament website. Must have signed it at some point.

          Full reports from the Lords committee on that link too in case anyone was interested.

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            Another day and another story about someone spending 4-figure sums on MTX; https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-53337020 (actually from yesterday I believe).

            This is the normalisation of gambling for children who have been growing up with aggressive microtransactions. I won't link to it all but you can clearly read the descent into gambling addition.

            Horrible story but again good to see this stuff being widely reported.

            "I distinctly remember back in 2012, when I first asked my parents if I could use my money to buy packs, and my frustration when my dad said the packs were "gambling", before finally agreeing.

            "The idea that it was gambling seemed ridiculous to me at the time. I understood that the chances of 'packing' my favourite players were low.

            "I spent the money, opened my packs, got lucky a couple of times, and tried to be positive, despite being left feeling slightly underwhelmed. 'If I could just spend another £15…', I thought.

            "Four years followed of spending more and more money on player packs - each time seeking that buzz that would only occasionally come.

            "As time went on, I was becoming increasingly secretive about it. I would buy a voucher from a High Street shop and hide it in my room, so my parents wouldn't find out how much I was spending.

            Comment


              A sad story. This needs to be eliminated from videogames as soon as possible.

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                Curious where he got his money from between the ages of 13 and 17 to keep buying these without his parents picking there was an issue.

                It's blatantly gambling though, absolutely zero reason to exist barring the incentivisation of getting people to pay out repeatedly mostly on content they don't want. Thankfully they've never hooked me though, in pretty much every game even the valued loot box content is utter rubbish that's quickly rendered meaningless or is like that from origin.

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                  And we only hear these stories when the amounts get ridiculous. How many people are dropping a mere several hundred on this gambling? I'm guessing quite a lot because some of the profits made could only happen if significant numbers of people are getting sucked in for hefty amounts of money. And these companies like to shout about their profits but won't draw attention to the reality of where it's coming from.

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                    But but the shareholders Doggthang??? What will they say when profits drop below 4000% next quarter?

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                      $1.5bn of EA's $5.5bn in revenue last year. Ultimate Team makes more revenue than FIFA/Madden game releases themselves. They absolutely have people 'just' spending a few hundred or so. But not an insignificant amount dropping 4-figure sums. Which places like the BBC like to focus on.

                      The sad part for me is him being a child (teenager) exposed to this stuff with no protection at all. You only need to swap FIFA/Madden lootboxes for other gambling at a bookies or addiction and you have exactly the same symptoms. Again go back to the evidence the former ex-Cryptic devs in this thread to see the result of the mechanics designed to trigger those behaviours. Text book stuff.

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                        The games industry is in a terrible place. Crunch development, harassment and the willful exposure of children to gambling.

                        Comment


                          Another report on Lootboxes in Videogames, this time from the EU. Interesting reading and a lot of the detailed analysis drawing some of the same conclusions, but also stating difficulties with how the EU can legislate Lootboxes as gambling.

                          Recommendation for stronger consumer legislation (i.e. refunds) is something some extremely intelligent and wise people have been saying here for years



                          GameIndustry.biz - Loot boxes should be a consumer protection matter not a gambling one, says EU report
                          EU lacks authority to regulate gambling across member states but could tackle "problematic design features" from a different perspective


                          The European Union should approach loot boxes from a consumer protection perspective rather than a gambling one, a recent study has recommended.

                          Conducted on behalf of the EU Internal Market and Consumer Protection committee, 'Loot boxes in online games and their effect on consumers, in particular young consumers' is among the most comprehensive loot box investigations to date, and outlines "problematic design features" of current industry monetisation and engagement mechanics.
                          The IMCP report noted that while these design features are not exclusive to games, they use "well-documented behavioural bias -- systematic pitfalls in behaviour compared to how rational and well-informed consumers should behave -- to sell content" and present "very real gambling-like activities."
                          Parental controls were also highlighted as an important factor, but again the authors noted that such controls aren't effective unless they are the default, and parents properly understand them. Furthermore, it was suggested that parental controls be reframed to motivate adoption by adult players to protect themselves from potentially harmful practices.

                          "While consumer information, transparency and player control measures are certainly welcome initiatives, it is recommended that their effectiveness is systematically verified, for example through consumer testing," reads the report. "It also needs to be made sure that such measures are supervised and enforced by independent bodies"
                          The argument in favour of regulating loot boxes as gambling has been slowed by a lack of conclusive scientific evidence regarding the behavioural and psychological outcomes. However, early studies from University of Tasmania researchers Dr. Aaron Drummond and Dr. James Sauer found that loot boxes are "psychologically akin to gambling." This position was later reinforced by Dr. David Zendle and Dr. Paul Cairns of York St. John University and University of York, whose research found "important links between loot box spending and problem gambling."

                          Another hurdle to the gambling approach is that regulatory and legal frameworks across EU member states are "not sufficiently harmonised" for any Europe-wide initiative. As a result, the EU Commission has not directly addressed the issue of loot boxes, but has issued several recommendations about protecting minors in the broader context of gaming and gambling.
                          Last edited by Digfox; 28-07-2020, 19:08.

                          Comment


                            EA will start experimenting with advertising in some of their sports games.

                            Comment


                              Haven't we had this before?

                              Comment


                                Originally posted by Dogg Thang View Post
                                Haven't we had this before?
                                We've seen similar, Take 2 putting ads in NBA 2KXX. But I think this might be a first for EA (excluding Mobile or existing advertising deals for billboards etc). Significant in that their Madden/FIFA games are clear leaders in this space.

                                There might be nuances too in that these are full TV spots adverts and involve advertising partners too.
                                Last edited by Digfox; 29-07-2020, 10:55.

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