The UK government has responded to a civil petition to recognize video games with loot boxes as a form of gambling entertainment and to introduce age restrictions on such titles. Officials promised to study the problem more deeply and respond if necessary.
According to the response, the State Gambling Commission instructed the responsible gambling council to “study the interaction between children and gambling more widely.”
The government also said that it “will not allow the vulnerability and inexperience of children to become the target of aggressive advertising,” since the Consumer Protection Act of 2008 prohibits companies from pursuing aggressive marketing policies that directly encourage them to buy goods. These include in-game purchases such as loot boxes.
In addition, British officials reported that the Video Standards Commission is currently working with the PEGI rating system on whether amendments to the adopted video game standardization procedure are required.
Recall that a petition demanding to equate games with loot boxes to gambling appeared on the website of the Parliament of the United Kingdom in October of this year. The document has collected more than 14 thousand signatures.
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