The Church of England has taken a firm stance against loot boxes, comparing them to gambling. The Church specifically pointed to them as harmful for children, who they claim can learn bad gambling habits from loot boxes while playing specific games.
Recently, members of the UK Parliament made moves to label loot boxes as gambling. The conversation arose when a study by UK's Department for Digital Culture, Media, and Sports pointed at the psychological effects loot boxes can have on the minds of players. The study found that a minority of players can become addicted to games with loot mechanics and will sometimes spend thousands of dollars in them.
Now, the Church of England has thrown its opinion into the ring, although it has taken a decidedly more ominous tone which sounds like something Seteth might say in Fire Emblem: Three Houses. The Church accuses addictive games of casting "a dark shadow over the colorful world of childhood play." The grandiose language does not stop there. According to the Bishop of St. Albans right reverend Dr. Alan Smith:
“The committee's report highlights what parents and guardians already sense: seemingly innocuous games with chance loot-boxes are turning children's innocent play into a gateway to gambling.
“Harmful and addictive products flooding children's games cast a dark shadow over the colourful world of childhood play. Games should be a place of adventure and discovery, not a vehicle for profit-making at children's expense."
The debate over whether or not loot boxes count as gambling has raged on for a few years now. As numerous studies have found, loot boxes can bring out addictive tendencies in some players. Larger companies like EA defend loot boxes by comparing them to "surprise toys" like blind boxes or Kinder Eggs, but studies have revealed a subset of gamers who will spend a lot of money falling for the randomized nature of loot boxes.
According to these studies, the pool of afflicted gamers pales in comparison to the players who either share a healthy relationship with loot boxes or don't buy them at all. The vocal majority of players don't want loot boxes in their games at all and they tend to make a lot of noise about it (enough that EA's defense of loot boxes holds the world record for most down-voted comment on Reddit). This push-back has put loot boxes on decline and has started a trend of publishers proudly announcing that their games will feature no loot boxes at all.
Of course, no one should downplay the harmfulness of gambling on the psychology of children. Kids shouldn't have a gateway to the highly addictive practice and this seems to be the crux of the Church's argument. The state of Washington even proposed a loot box bill that would control their presence in kids' games. Many folks who come to the defense of loot boxes shift the blame back onto parents claiming that they should take responsibility for their children's actions, and Dr. Smith addresses that too:
“Instead of continuously shifting the emphasis on to parents and children themselves, the industry needs to wake-up and start taking responsibility. Putting children’s lives ahead of their profit margins seems, to me, a pretty basic ask.”
However, something still feels off about these comments. The Church claims that publishers set out to market loot boxes directly to children, and while that has probably happened at some point, most of the games cited as featuring them prominently have a mature rating. On top of that, studies cite examples of a minority of players who spend thousands of dollars on loot boxes, but children don't often have thousands of dollars to spend. That disconnect makes the Church sound like perhaps it hasn't done its research.
Most folks likely don't want loot boxes in games. To that end, the conversation should center around loot boxes as a whole. Focusing on children's relationship to them seems to miss the core of what truly makes loot boxes frustrating and dangerous in the first place.
As players continue to push back against loot boxes, it may be wise to also try to educate political figures like the UK gambling commission on who truly loses the most when it comes to the practice. Gamers could also help educate parents on how to best monitor the kinds of games their kids play and the amount of money they spend in those games. The only way to push loot boxes out of the industry for good is to help non-game players understand what qualities actually make them a sinister practice.
Source: The Telegraph