The ASA has upheld complaints against several major video game companies for failing to indicate in advertising that their games contain paid loot boxes. [Image: Shutterstock.com]
Bad ads
Although video game companies are allowed to self-regulate in the UK when it comes to implementing loot box mechanics, many have broken the rules around these gambling-style in-game features.
They failed to provide warnings on Facebook ads that their games contain loot boxes
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has issued warnings to three companies for failing to provide warnings on Facebook ads that their games contain paid loot boxes.
Electronic Arts (EA), Jagex, and Hutch Games violated the rules, with EA attributing the issue to human error and claiming these failures did not reflect the company’s overall compliance. Jagex said it did not have enough space in its Facebook ads to include a warning and that it had included the message in other types of ads, while Hutch admitted it had misinterpreted the guidelines and subsequently made the necessary changes.
Call for change
Leon Xiao, a loot box regulation expert, found violations in more than 90% of the ads he saw. Only a small number of breaches have been brought to the ASA as a way of highlighting the issue, and it suggests that self-regulation is not the best way to protect children. Talking to Watchman Regarding video game companies, he said they are “supposed to be role models, not rule breakers themselves.”
Xiao plans to file more complaints this year if authorities do not resolve non-compliance issues. It also called for harsher penalties for any repeat offenders and for advertising platforms to be held accountable to some extent for the content they host.
UK gaming trade body Ukie said all members plan to comply with new loot box guidelines by July.
The chair of the Gambling Reform Fellows group in the House of Lords is now calling on the government to step in to properly regulate loot boxes. A Department for Culture, Media and Sport spokesperson said the government was monitoring the impact of the latest guidelines and was clear that video game publishers had to do more when it came to protecting people.
Verdict on loot boxes
Loot boxes allow players to use in-game currency or real money to open packs containing virtual items. Said items usually have a probability assigned to them depending on their rarity, which determines how often they appear. Many people have likened loot boxes to the spins of slot machines.
It can be a gateway for underage people to engage in more serious gambling
Several countries have imposed blanket bans on these types of in-game features, including the Netherlands and Belgium, over concerns that they could be a gateway for underage people into riskier gambling.
The UK government decided not to define loot boxes as gambling products and instead established a working group tasked with drafting regulations for the industry. This led to the publication of 11 principles in August, including requiring companies to show a message in ads that they offer paid loot boxes.
