Loot Boxes and Gambling (UK)

https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-53253195
"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.

This could potentially impact how DPG handles the Heritage crates and LoN packs. They're clearly a gambling mechanic.

From a consumer standpoint this is great news. Now all we need now is for the US to take the same action.

And immediately after California declares that Loot Boxes cause cancer.

I think it may be a be careful what you wish for type of thing. We could either see them continue to make new marketplace content but showing you exactly what you get and probably for much more money or they may discontinue the heritage crates altogether.

I have used very very little from heritage crates so it won't affect me at all. Many games out there are big on loot boxes so be interesting to see what if US Courts supported such a ruling.

Breathing in air in small amounts over years of time has sometimes led to cancer. The evidence is in stop breathing.

Go buy a pack of bb cards - the odds are better.

That may not be necessary. DPG may find it more economical to just discontinue loot boxes in order to keep the rules and coding the same from country to country.

Loot boxes are gambling where if you win you still dont own anything. Its all bits and bytes and DPG owns it.

I think they'll just make some adjustments like individual items for sale or whatever. I'm interested to see how EA reacts, since they generate $1.5 billion in revenue from their Ultimate teams.

The interesting thing is that many of these loot boxes guarantee an item. Whether it is the item you want is another question. The heritage crates and LoN packs are largely cosmetic. Loot boxes may be more analogous to baseball, Pokemon, or Magic: The Gathering cards than casino games.

How have various governments regulated card packs?

Another option is Daybreak/Darkpaw will sell future heritage crate illusions and mounts in the 'Family and Friend' expansion bundle. So you'll need to spend $250 for that shiny new illusion.

The problem with lootboxes in general(afaik), is that they make it very easy to spend a LOT of money, if you get caught up in it. And "money" in this case is more abstract than dollars and euros as they have their own exotic currency, making it hard for children to know when to stop.

There have been horror stories about children spending ingame-currency worth thousands of dollars before the parents discovered what was going on...(im not talking about EQ here)

At least Everquest aren't targeting minors with poor financial sense.
(I think you need to be old enough to own a credit card to be allowed to play the game?).

That said: lootboxes ARE a cancer in the gaming industry, and I won't be sad to see them gone...

I haven't seen any cases yet of countries regulating Trading Card Games like Pokemon or Magic yet, but without a doubt it's a game of chance. There is a distinction between having items you physically own versus temporary licenses for digital items. Loot boxes and trading card games are just following the typical pattern of industry outpacing and influencing regulations, until they've pushed too far.

I would think there is more of a gambling hazard with physical property such as trading cards with the possibility of monetary return.

Just last week, a Pokemon card was appraised for auction at $100,000.

https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2020/0...expected-to-fetch-up-to-100000/8371592944485/

Ive always thought trading cards to be a ripoff too. Never thought it gambling, but still. The company that prints them can run off as many as they want. Can change the number in circulation any time they want. How valuable is it really then? Only as much value as you put trust in the corp not to do that.

Just change it to some battle pass like system where you can pay to speed it up or skip the grind like every other game company is doing

I don't think that is a good example as it is a special card that has 7 copies that was given to winners of tournaments in Japan.

Money doesn’t really matter. BOTH EA and Nintendo have already bent the knee. It’s just a matter of time before they do so again.

I agree although the games out there are going to find another way to make money so let's hope in the future we aren't wishing loot boxes were back.

Gaming industry has been getting away with this far too long already, it's long overdue being either regulated properly by gambling regulations or changing so it isn't gambling at all.

It's a consumer protection issue.