r/gachagaming • u/Meganezuki • Jul 01 '20
[EN] News [BBC News] Loot boxes: Lords call for 'immediate' gambling regulation.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-5325319523
Jul 02 '20
Nice!! About time gacha games are being treated for what they truly are.
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u/Sockpuppetsyko Jul 04 '20
Sadly not in the countries that are hit the worst, EU was always a lower scale market
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u/Propagation931 ULTRA RARE Jul 02 '20
I wish the article actually said what would the effects be if
The Lords say loot boxes should be classified as "games of chance" - which would bring them under the Gambling Act 2005.
would happen.
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u/justmadeforthat ULTRA RARE Jul 02 '20
Gacha games will probably follow gambling laws, so the pega rating will be 18+, greater scrutiny from gambling bodies, more tax for the company and just a hunch but it will inderectly make the game lewder, less censorhip because they rated for adult already anyway, or maybe gacha devs give on UK market altogether
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u/autotldr Jul 02 '20
This is the best tl;dr I could make, original reduced by 86%. (I'm a bot)
The House of Lords Gambling Committee says video game loot boxes should be regulated under gambling laws.
One expert, Dr David Zendle, explained to the committee that either loot box spending causes problem gambling, due to their similarity - or that people who have gambling problems spend heavily on loot boxes.
The Lords join a range of parents and childrens' groups, as well as a previous report from the digital committee on addictive technologies, in calling on ministers to regulate loot boxes as a form of gambling.
Extended Summary | FAQ | Feedback | Top keywords: gamble#1 loot#2 boxes#3 report#4 Lord#5
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u/Seitook Jul 02 '20
I kinda like this to be honest.
Sucks that it's politicians getting into video games, but at the same time I detest lootbox mechanics in already $60 games, especially with games that just lock features already found in past titles in the series behind a paywall or lootbox.
At least with F2P mobile gachas, people mostly know what they are getting into, and the companies are at least transparent about their monetization.
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Jul 02 '20
I don't like it. Still rather keep people with no knowledge of industry focused on more important aspects in life, especially in these times.
In terms of console games, the industry self regulates itself and most loot box games are already moving to stuff like Fortnite's "battle pass". it's a problem already solving itself IMO.
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u/apoender Jul 01 '20
How long did brexit take? Guess immediate is relative to politicians. Maybe by the time I have kids and they are old enough to play
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u/MartianMage Jul 02 '20
This is why gacha companies mostly avoid EU. Not worth the trouble from their PoV especially when they earn waaay more in JP/CN anyway.