Australia eyeballs new gaming law

Bill would mandate an R18+ rating for any game with gambling-like features.

Australia may be the next country to take legislative action against loot boxes in videogames, as MP Andrew Wilkie has introduced a bill calling for a mandatory adult classification for any game that contains a “gambling-type feature.”

Introduced on November 28, the bill says loot boxes come in many forms but share some common characteristics, including that they can offer competitive advantages in games and may also have resale value, which collectively confers on them “significant value for players.”

“By tempting players with the potential to win game-changing items, encouraging risk-taking for possible reward, delivering random prizes on an intermittent basis, and encouraging players to keep spending money, loot boxes give rise to many of the same emotions and experiences associated with poker machines and traditional gambling activities,” Wilkie’s explanatory memorandum says. “This is especially concerning as many games which contain these features are popular with adolescents and young adults.”

The debate over whether loot boxes are a form of gambling has been going on for years. Some experts say they absolutely are, while game publishers and industry bodies have argued strenuously that – from a legal perspective, at least – they are not. The split opinion is perhaps best illustrated in the UK: The mental health director of the National Health Service said in 2020 that loot boxes effectively teach children to gamble, and that same year the House of Lords called for loot boxes to be classified as a form of gambling. But the country’s Gambling Commission, which actually makes the call on these things, has repeatedly ruled that loot boxes are not a form of gambling.

The reason for that position, which has also previously been taken by other bodies including game publishers, rating boards, the Entertainment Software Association, and other gambling regulators, is that items drawn from loot boxes have no monetary value. In order to qualify as gambling, the rewards on offer must either be money, or have real-world value supported through official channels. Not every country buys that argument, of course: Both Belgium and the Netherlands have declared that at least some forms of loot boxes violate their gambling laws, and have thus banned them.

"Loot boxes give rise to many of the same emotions and experiences associated with poker machines and traditional gambling activities"