House of Lords asks MPs to act “immediately” to bring loot boxes within Gambling Legislation
House of Lords asks MPs to act “immediately” to bring loot boxes within Gambling Legislation
Within the report, which can be read here, the House of Lords Committee has stated that “if a product looks like gambling and feels like gambling, it should be regulated as gambling”, echoing the conclusion of the Children’s Commissioner in another recent report.
“The Government must act immediately to bring loot boxes within the remit of gambling legislation and regulation.” This quote was a key finding of the report, which has claimed that many of the house’s recommendations could be enacted without new legislation.Â
On BBC Breakfast, Lord Grade, the chairman of the House of Lords Gambling Committee, stated that the UK’s Gambling Act was “way behind what was actually happening in the market,” calling for major changes which “could be enacted today.” Now it’s up to the Government to decide what they will do with the Lords’ advice. In recent years, countries like Belgium and the Netherlands have banned or restricted loot boxes in games, while many game rating agencies have already added Loot Boxes to their list of game warning labels.ÂÂ
Now, it is up to the UK’s government to act on the advice from the House of Lords, who has called for Loot Boxes to be placed under the remit of today’s Gambling Act. While a larger overhaul of the UK’s Gambling Act is recommended, placing Loot Boxes under the UK’s existing legislation will address an area which the House of Lords believes requires “urgent attention”.Â
You can join the discussion on the House of Lords asking MPs to act “immediately” on Loot Boxes on the OC3D Forums.Â