Video games companies must do more to prohibit in-games purchases known as “loot boxes” being targeted at children, said Culture Secretary Nadine Dorris in a statement to the UK games industry.
Evidence collected by the government unveiled a clear link between loot boxes and gambling harms, as well as wider mental health, financial and problem-gaming issues.
“We want to stop children going on spending sprees online without parental consent, spurred on by in-game purchases like loot-boxes,” said Dorries, although no changes to existing laws have been proposed.
Loot boxes have become a standard yet controversial feature in popular video game series’, particularly first-person shooters such as Battlefront, Call of Duty and Apex Legends.
In 2017, Publisher Electronic Arts was forced to remove the feature from its Star Wars: Battlefront II title after an online campaign by outraged gamers drew mainstream attention.
Operating in a similar fashion to slot machines, loot boxes give players randomised in-game rewards — ranging from cosmetic upgrades to specialised weapons — via microtransactions.
Belgium banned the feature in 2019, but the UK resisted similar calls at the time despite a proven link to problem gambling uncovered by leading UK gambling charity GambleAware.