Loot Boxes by Jon Glass

        Loot boxes in video games need to be regulated. Many people under the age of nineteen are exposed to loot boxes in video games. These loot boxes have been accused as a form of gambling due to their random nature involving real money. By regulating loot boxes, we can stop the exploitation of minors in video games.

            Microtransactions, and more specifically loot boxes, are big business for gaming companies. According to Activision Blizzards annual 2017 investor report, the company made over four billion dollars from in game purchases alone such as loot boxes. With the amount of money on the line for these large companies, loot box regulation is not something they are overly happy about.

            Electronic Arts has recently had to stop selling their loot boxes in Belgium thanks to an updated gambling law to encompass loot boxes. Initially, Electronic Arts faced criminal charges as they refused to comply with the updated law. Belgium wasn’t the first country to interfere with the loot box gambling however, Netherlands initially declared a loot box ban in video games back in April 2018.

            According to Eurogamer, fifteen European and Washington state gambling regulators are investigating further into the risks that loot boxes in video games bring. Further to this, a recent study by David Zendel and Paul Cairns link problem gambling to loot box spending.

            Zendel and Cairns say “Due to the formal features that loot boxes share with other forms of gambling, they may well be acting as a ‘gateway’ to problem gambling amongst gamers. Hence, the more gamers spend on loot boxes, the more severe their problem gambling becomes.”

https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0206767&type=printable

                        With links to gambling, it certainly raises concerns how loot boxes interact with children. According to the Entertainment Software Association of Canada, in 2014 eighty one percent of Canadians age 13-17 have played video games within the last four-week period. In 2018, the Entertainment Software Association of Canada says that 1 out of 5 teens have purchased non cosmetic in-game content. With that many children playing games, and with that number of children spending money on in game purchases, loot boxes should certainly be a cause for concern for parents when it comes to their linkage to gambling.

            When it comes to Canada, it appears that there is no sign of loot box regulation any time soon. The Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) have added labels to games stating if they include ‘in game purchases’ however this is the extent of the discussion, and does not mention loot boxes specifically. That being said, the Federal Trade Commission in the United States has launched an investigation into loot boxes, and hopefully Canada will follow suit soon. If the investigation does show loot boxes to have a link to gambling, this has potential to change video game developer behavior due to how much of a market the United States has for video games forcing game developers to no longer add loot boxes at all to their games. If this were to happen, then the positive effects will spill over to Canada as well.

            Something needs to be done about loot boxes in video games. It is clear they have a negative impact on many, and without clear guidelines or actions they will continue to be implemented. For the safety of the children in Canada, I urge the Canadian government to step up and look at how loot boxes affect the country.