The children’s commissioner for England has urged the authorities to unveil stricter measures to protect young online gamers, reminding that some of them spend hundreds of pounds on so-called loot boxes offered in video games.
Anne Longfield has called for the ministers to make amendments to the existing law so that loot boxes offered in games such as Fifa and Fortnite are categorised as gambling. Apart from that, she has also urged them to roll out a maximum daily spending limit for children as part of the Government’s efforts to tackle excessive spending on in-game items.
Loot boxes provide video games players with the opportunity to pay for real money for the chance of winning special items, equipment or even additional characters that are otherwise unavailable in the game and will help them with their progress. However, many opponents of so-called loot boxes believe these items are actually gambling because of the element of chance. At the time of the payment, players do not know what they are paying for because opening the chosen loot box may or may not bring them the special items they want. What is even more dangerous is the fact that players could end up chasing their losses, with them paying for more and more loot boxes.
The commissioner warned that young people who play video games could be open to exploitation by games operators that encourage them to spend money on loot boxes. That is why Ms Longfield has called for the authorities to bring financial harm within the scope of the forthcoming legislation focused on the harm inflicted by online gambling. According to her, the British Government should act immediately to amend the definition of gaming in section 6 of the Gambling Act 2005 in order to regulate loot boxes as a form of gambling.
About 93% of British Children Play Video Games to Date
The commissioner also provided a report, called Gaming the System, which also reveals that some children themselves do not feel in control of the amount of time they spend playing video games. Some of them have shared that they have not realised how long they had been actually playing for.
According to recent data, about 93% of British children play video games. The commissioner’s report found that younger children, aged 10-11, spend up to three hours playing online games on a daily basis. Some of the most played video games in this age group are Fortnite, Minecraft, Skylanders, Roblox and Mario Kart. Older children, aged 15-16, have been found to spend up to three hours daily playing games such as Call of Duty, the Fifa football series, Grand Theft Auto and Rainbow Six Siege.
As mentioned above, some children were concerned that loot boxes were a form of gambling. Apart from that, some also realised that chances to win the desired in-game features in the loot boxes they paid for were very low.
Previously, a recommendation that loot boxes should be classified as gambling was made by Members of Parliament from the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport committee in the House of Commons. They wanted to see underage individuals banned from purchasing such in-game items.
- Author
Daniel Williams
