As U.S. State Representatives take aim at monetized games like Star Wars: Battlefront for being nothing more than casinos aimed at kids, the Belgian Gaming Commission and Victorian Gambling Authority have decided that Star Wars: Battlefront 2’s loot crate practices are indeed gambling.
The Belgian Gaming Commission decided to look into whether Star Wars: Battlefront 2’s loot crate practices qualify as gambling earlier this month and their decision is in, as well as Australia’s Victorian Gambling Authority.
Both authorities have found Star Wars: Battlefront 2’s loot crate practices to be a form of gambling.
According to Belgium’s gambling authority (VTM Nieuws via Engadget), purchasable loot boxes whose contents are randomized, mix “money and addiction” and thus are a form of gambling. Belgium is allegedly looking to ban games with microtransaction practices like this.
The Victorian Gambling and Liquor Regulation (VGLR) have come to the same result as Belgium’s authorities, though in a less formal manner. Redditor -Caesar reached out to the VGLR requesting their opinion on the matter.
A strategic analyst from the VGLR defined loot boxes as gambling, but noted that there wasn’t much a government could do for regulation and that the regulation would come from working with other agencies, like Game Classification Boards, on changing the ratings of games with in-game monetization.
“What occurs with “loot boxes” does constitute gambling by the definition of the Victorian Legislation. Unfortunately where the complexity arises is in jurisdiction and our powers to investigate. Legislation has not moved as quick as the technology; at both State and Federal level we are not necessarily equipped to determine the legality of these practices in lieu of the fact the entities responsible are overseas.”
“…But I am a Strategic Analyst, my job is essentially to look at strategies to bring about changes without the necessity of kicking in garage doors and scaring the hell out of a bunch of students. Hence our interest in “loot boxes”. Enforcement is probably not an option, but we can consider working with other agencies to bring about change in other ways. For instance; if these companies want to include significant elements of gambling in their products then perhaps we should work with “The Australian Classification Board” to ensure than any product that does that and monetises it gets an immediate R rating. I could imagine that this would send ripples through the industry and it would support the objectives of the Gambling Legislation to ensure minors are not encouraged to participate in gambling.”
With so much attention on how microtransactions are implemented into game, it’s possible that the practices of loot boxes will fundamentally change in the future.
