The UK government has officially responded to the 2020 call for evidence of video game loot boxes. In short, the UK’s Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sports (DCMS) believes that the government should not regulate loot boxes for video games at this time, but encourage the gaming industry to avoid self-regulation. increase. The need for legislative action.
This means that loot boxes are not subject to the UK’s radical gambling law review. However, it does contain some rigorous guidelines that represent the government’s view. Loot box purchases should be unavailable to all children and adolescents unless activated by a parent or guardian. All players need access to spending management and transparent information. The industry needs to provide improvements to researchers. Access to data to collect better evidence and conduct research to inform future policies.
“In our view, it’s too early to take legislative action without first pursuing enhanced industry-led measures to provide protection for children, adolescents, and all players,” Rt’s DCMS said. The Secretary of State said. Book. Nadin Dollies, MP, Report Preface.
“We want to mobilize industry creativity, innovation and technical expertise to make concrete progress and improve pace protection,” says Dolly’s. “If this doesn’t happen, we don’t hesitate to consider amending the law.”
According to the report, there are two main reasons for this decision. First, the industry has already taken steps to mitigate harm in recent years. Second, there is concern that regulations could allow developers to simply drop out of the UK market rather than complying like in other countries such as Belgium and the Netherlands. (Opens in a new tab)
The report largely avoids whether loot boxes actually encourage addictive behaviour. Loot box-related damages “include gambling-related harm,” and investigations have shown that they can be “gateways” for gambling addiction. It concludes, “The request for evidence has found an association between loot boxes and harm, but not whether there is a causal association.”
UK Interactive Entertainment (Ukie for short), a major UK gaming industry group, Responded (Opens in a new tab) He says he is actively looking forward to working with a new group of governments to further investigate this issue. The group will pursue further steps “to reduce the risk of harm to children,” including “industry, academics, and third-sector partners.” The report itself contains Ukie’s efforts to spend £ 1m over multiple years to emphasize parental and spending management.
The industry itself seems happy, but there are plans for a focused response from players and the general public. To regulatory advocates, the DCMS response probably seems to make the fox responsible for the poultry house.
The entire result of the request for evidence can be read in a whopping 32,000 words. British government website. (Opens in a new tab)
