The Norwegian Consumer Council has released a detailed report in which it went through the loot boxes in games. The researchers called this mechanics “exploitative”, and the design of the loot boxes themselves was deceptive and encouraging to spend large sums.
The Norwegians named FIFA 22 and Raid: Shadow Legends as illustrative examples of games manipulating gamers.
The report also lists actions that the authorities could take to improve the situation with loot boxes. For example:
▪prohibit the so-called “deceptive design”;
▪oblige to indicate the cost of purchases in real, not just virtual currency;
▪prohibit adding loot boxes to games for children;
– increase the requirements for transparency of algorithms that affect the probability with which items fall out of loot boxes.