The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has found a link between problem gambling and loot boxes in games, and it has called for game companies to step and “improve protections” for children in a new press release (via GamesIndustry.biz).These findings follow a call for evidence on the impact of loot boxes by the UK government back in 2020, with this release now calling for the in-game purchases to be made unavailable to children unless approved by a parent or guardian.
More specifically, Xbox’s parental controls were mentioned, with the government wanting to build on protections like this, otherwise legislation will be considered.“We want to stop children going on spending sprees online without parental consent, spurred on by in-game purchases like loot-boxes,” said culture secretary Nadine Dorries.“Games companies and platforms need to do more to ensure that controls and age-restrictions are applied so that players are protected from the risk of gambling harms.
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