The UK's inquiry into whether loot boxes in video games constitute gambling took another step forward today, as the UK Minister for Digital and the Creative Industries dismissed the comparison of loot boxes to gambling. Speaking before the UK Parliament's Commons committee, Minister and Conservative MP Margot James contested, "the assumption that loot boxes are gambling." James did, however, share concerns that loot boxes could be a gateway to gambling.

James attacks the idea that loot boxes are gambling based on Belgium and the Netherlands' own conclusions that loot boxes are illegal gambling and prior research. The MP states that Belgium and the Netherlands simply have different laws with regards to what constitutes gambling. However, she deigns not to describe how or why those laws are different, attributing the differences in how the countries have interpreted offline gambling laws for modern online use.

With regards to James' second argument, her conclusions are somewhat difficult to describe. She, in effect, argues that while loot boxes aren't gambling, young people who have a "propensity to gamble" may find a "greater enthusiasm for using loot boxes" elicited, which could lead to other problems. In turn, she says that despite WHO's classification of gaming addiction and other research, more research is needed in order to justify action with regards to regulation.

James effectively makes the argument that the UK should do nothing with regards to its inquiry beyond continuing the inquiry, with no call to change digital gambling law to cover loot boxes or enacting any regulation whatsoever. However, she is willing to acknowledge the worst aspects of gambling addiction and loot boxes without willingly declaring they are the same:

"If young people have a propensity to  gamble, I can accept that if they were excessive game users that loot boxes could bring that out, could potentially illicit [sic] from them a greater enthusiam for using loot boxes which could lead to other problems."

Between the UK Parliament Commons committee's recent session in which EA rebranded loot boxes as "surprise mechanics" and today's comments from James, it seems unlikely that the group will come to any meaningful conclusions regarding the ongoing controversy. And according to the letter of the law in the UK, that makes complete sense. Gambling law would have to be changed to account for the modern digital landscape in order to lead to the kind of action seen in Belgium and the Netherlands.

Source: GamesIndustry.biz