The Royal Society for Public Health (RSPH) has issued a warning that video games’ betting-style features, including so-called loot boxes, should be classified as gambling and, respectively, be available for individuals over 18 years of age only.
In a report that the charity organisation has recently published, the RSPH has urged Prime Minister Boris Johnson to stick to the Conservatives’ commitment regarding gambling regulation in the country and review it as soon as possible. The RSPH highlighted video games and sport as major areas of concern and warned that products offering gambling-style features allow gambling companies to circumvent regulation aimed at protecting the most vulnerable members of society.
When it comes to loot boxes, the charity added its efforts to growing calls for a thorough overhaul of the UK’s gambling regulation. Previously, the election manifesto of the Conservatives has described the existing gambling legislation as unsuitable for the quickly digitalising gambling market and pledged to consider a possible crackdown on loot boxes.
Now, the RSPH has called for the British Government to roll out legislation categorising betting-style features as gambling. Such a move would mean that video games developers would be forced to quit offering loot boxes or, at least, roll out some age restrictions on certain games. For the time being, this market niche is worth £700 million on the territory of the UK.
Most Children Who Participated in the Survey Say Loot Boxes Are Available for Purchase
Shirley Cramer, Chief Executive Officer of the RSPH, has shared that nowadays, most young people are regularly playing video games and are exposed to the possible harmful impact which gambling-like features may have on their lives. According to Ms Cramer, the increasing popularity of loot boxes and so-called skin betting has made it possible for young people to reach the same mechanisms that support gambling.
A study has found that about 40% of young people aged 11-24 spend real money to purchase virtual items available in video games such as Call of Duty and Fortnite. As Casino Guardian previously reported, many of these teenagers and young adults often use the credit cards of their parents to purchase loot boxes and skins without actually knowing what they would get.
As revealed by research funded by GambleAware and cited by the RSPH, two in five young people who play video games purchased special in-game feature such as loot boxes. The study, in which 1,100 youngsters participated, found that 93% of them play video games on a regular basis, while 91% admit that loot boxes are offered in the games they play. Also, one in four children between 11 and 14 years of age had purchased a loot box in the week before the survey took place.
More than 50% of these young people believed that video games could lure them into gambling, and what is even worse, the youngest respondents of the survey were most likely to take gambling-style products simply as part of video gaming.
Previous pieces of research on the matter have found that children who are exposed at various gambling-style in-game features from an early age are more likely to become addicted to gambling at a later stage of their lives. And problem gambling is now known for being able to ruin lives not only of gamblers but also their families.
- Author
Daniel Williams
