Loot boxes do not meet the legal definition of gambling. So it was considered in the gambling control department of the Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) of the New Zealand government.
According to the licensing manager at DIA Trish Millward, their agency cannot recognize loot boxes as gambling games in accordance with the wording of the state Gambling Law adopted in 2003.
Millward added that New Zealanders are not prohibited from playing online gambling games supplied by foreign operators.
The question of the affiliation of loot boxes to gambling has been raised internationally after the release of the online shooter Star Wars Battlefront II. Currently, there are three points of view on this problem.
One side believes that loot boxes are related to gambling and they need to be controlled as a type of gambling business. This point of view is being leaned towards in the Belgian government and the administration of the state of Hawaii.
Others believe that since the contents of the loot boxes cannot be sold for cash, they cannot be recognized as gambling. This fact became the main argument of the international rating organizations ESA and ESBR, which refused to recognize loot boxes as a kind of gambling.
The third party remains neutral, considering that the regulation of loot boxes goes beyond their powers and responsibilities.
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