Northern Ireland’s APG wants "stringent, legally mandated regulations" imposed on loot boxes
- The APG in Northern Ireland has called for limitations on loot boxes and other gambling mechanics
- While not seeking a full ban, the group does want gambling to be "severely limited" in games
Seeking stricter regulation of loot boxes, Northern Ireland’s Assembly All Party Group on Reducing Harm Related to Gambling (APG) has called for limitations to the monetisation strategy.
The APG has recommended that loot boxes and other "gambling mechanics" be regulated structurally and in their availability and believes Northern Ireland is well positioned to "lead the way on the regulation of loot boxes".
In fact, the group wants gambling in video games to be "severely limited" but has not called for an outright ban, according to GamesIndustry.biz.
A long debate
The APG’s case has been put forward after an inquiry gathered evidence on gambling’s public health impacts between December 2022 and January 2024. Based on the results, the group recommends that companies take a more considered approach to in-game gambling, such as loot boxes, which have long been contentious.
Among its recommendations, the APG has suggested that companies offer direct purchase options or guarantee getting the desired content from a loot box after a set amount of spending.
However, the group acknowledged that regulatory responsibility shouldn’t fall entirely upon developers’ shoulders; rather, there should be "stringent, legally mandated regulations, with attention paid to the structural characteristics and overall availability of loot boxes".
Gambling mechanics like these have been a hot topic for years, with the Netherlands and Belgium having banned them as far back as 2018. This was believed to be the cause of Activision Blizzard’s Diablo Immortal being pulled from those countries in 2022, although The Court of The Hague let EA’s FIFA Ultimate Team packs slide.
The APG report also calls for restrictions on free-to-play social casino titles to limit their access by minors. Monopoly Go! has singlehandedly surged the genre’s revenue by 34% year-on-year.