Are loot boxes in video games considered gambling? That seems to be the debate going on right now, with some claiming that because you don’t know what you’re getting when you pay for it, essentially you’re taking a gamble on the contents of the loot box, while others don’t seem to feel the same way.You might have heard that over in Belgium, the local authorities have come to the conclusion that loot boxes are a form of online gambling and want it banned across Europe, but over in Denmark, the country’s gambling authority has found that Star Wars: Battlefront 2’s loot boxes not to be gambling.
According to the country’s gaming act, to be considered gambling, it needs to meet a few criterias. One of which is that there must be a deposit, there must be an element of coincidence, and there must be a win. They also compare some examples of what could be considered gambling, like where gamers can win skins for items that can be resold, which if you might recall was a bit of a controversy surrounding Counter-Strike: Global Offensive last year.
However despite it not being considered gambling, the authorities do express some concern about it all the same. “However, I would like to emphasize the importance of parents taking an interest in the games their children play and to talk about responsible gaming behaviour. Then we may hopefully avoid unfortunate situations where minors spend money they should not have used.”
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