The use of loot boxes in video games was once pretty standard, but in recent years the practice has come under intense scrutiny. Now, it seems that the House of Lords, the upper house of Great Britain's Parliament, is weighing in on the issue. It calls for an immediate reclassification of loot boxes as gambling.
Many gamers and outsiders alike are weary about the damage loot boxes can cause. In some unfortunate cases gamers have felt compelled to spend thousands of dollars on these in game loot boxes. Beyond this, a lot of people simply don't like them because of the randomness of what one will get.
Most games have recognized this controversy and begun to move away from the use of loot boxes, migrating towards a battle pass system instead. The battle pass system is nice because players know exactly what they're going to get when they spend the money and it also encourages gamers to play the game more.
The House of Lords reports that smart phone games using loot boxes have created "the perfect storm of addictive, 24/ gambling," and in a sense this is true. There are no age restrictions placed on games with loot boxes, and players often spend a lot of time on a mobile game they're invested in. There is absolutely nothing to stop or regulate gamers from literally becoming addicted to loot boxes in the same way people get addicted to gambling. The Lords' report calls for an immediate reclassification of loot boxes by the government.
The definition of gambling is somewhat up in the air, but most agree that something must have three elements to be considered gambling: consideration, risk, and a prize. Consideration refers to the amount wagered, risk is the chance the gambler will get the desired outcome, and the prize is obviously what they would win should things work out. Loot boxes often clearly lay out all three of these statistics for players. Consideration is up to the player for how much they'd like to spend, the risk is clear as there is a chance that players won't get the item they want, and the rewards are immediately made available to the player.
Numerous organizations have called for loot boxes to be regulated or reclassified as gambling, so it seems that it's only a matter of time before legislature around the world follows through with this. It seems that gamers prefer the use of battle passes over loot boxes anyway.