Are Loot Boxes Gambling?

What is a loot box?

Loot boxes are a key feature in many popular video games, including titles like FIFA, and Fortnite, Loot boxes let gamers use real money Items might include: additional weapons the player can use in the game components to make or upgrade those weapons clothing or other cosmetics for characters.

The more money is spent buying boxes, the better the chances of receiving more desirable items, just as gambling gives bigger returns to bigger spenders.

But while gambling offers money or a valuable item in return, loot boxes generally provide things that will only be used in that particular game.

What UK law says

So can these prize-giving loot boxes really be gambling if the only rewards are in-game items? Regulators have long advised that to be gambling, the prize from a paid game of chance must have monetary value or be able to be exchanged for money.

Free-to-play online games are legion, but always include the option of paying for loot boxes. The Gambling Commission took a detailed official look in 2021. It agreed that prizes are not considered to have "money's worth" if they are only fit for use in a particular game.

The Gambling Commission has not moved from its longstanding advice, which is that paid content should be judged from case to case.

The Commission does not set gambling law, only Parliament can, and it is the law that the Gambling Commission enforces.

Why parents still worry

Tighter gambling law is something UK policymakers are weighing.

At the moment, loot boxes are recognised as potentially linked to harmful gambling behaviour.

In 2024, more than half of 11- to 17-year-olds in 2024 who had spent money on loot boxes used money from their own bank account: was 50 percent. The figure for gift cards was the same.

What to do

The Gambling Commission advice is to parents and carers is to make sure that spending is: 1. Aware 2. Open 3. Balanced 4. Appropriate.

The games industry itself amplifies this.

"We encourage parents to learn about the games we sell - and to play them," it said in an editorial for young people. "Be interested in the characters. Ask about the plots. Don't just watch at a distance."

It also advocates parents and carers checking how children who have access to their own devices are getting on.

That would stop embarrassing overspending on loot boxes providing even more random fun with the card in their hand -- what player does not need another random shiny weapon?