Video Game Loot Boxes: Improvements to Industry-led Protections

(Limited Text - Ministerial Extracts only)

Tuesday 18th July 2023 Written Statements

[The Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (Lucy Frazer)]

The Government have today published an update on improvements to industry-led protections for loot boxes in video games. Loot boxes are features in some video games that contain apparently randomised items. They may be purchased with money—including via virtual currencies—or accessed via gameplay.

The Government response to the call for evidence on loot boxes in video games—July 2022—found an association between loot box purchases and problem gambling, but evidence has not established whether a causal relationship exists. The Government response set out the view that:

Purchases of loot boxes should be unavailable to all children and young people unless and until they are enabled by a parent or guardian.

All players should have access to, and be aware of, spending controls and transparent information to support safe and responsible gameplay.

Better evidence and research, enabled by improved access to data, should be developed to inform future policy making on loot boxes and video games more broadly.

Since then, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has convened a technical working group of games industry representatives tasked with improving industry-led protections with regards to loot boxes. The output of the working group is industry-led guidance on paid loot boxes, co-ordinated and published by video games trade body Ukie. Academics, the Games Rating Authority (GRA), the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) and the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) have participated in the group, and DCMS has facilitated engagement with Ukie on its proposal, including through a players and parents panel.

The Government welcome this new guidance published by Ukie which, if fully implemented, has the potential to enhance player protections in line with the objectives set out in the Government response.

We are now calling on the games industry to work closely with players, parents, academics, consumer groups and Government authorities to adopt and implement the guidance in full, and continue to improve protections for players.

To meet the objective of improving the evidence base on loot boxes and video games more broadly, DCMS has collaborated with academics, industry, other Government Departments and Research Councils to develop a video games research framework, which was published in May. The Government welcome independent academic scrutiny, facilitated by the research framework, to assess the effectiveness and implementation of industry-led protections and, more broadly, how best to ensure player safety with regards to loot boxes.

The Government will keep their position on possible future legislative options under review, informed by the effectiveness of implementation of industry-led measures and academic scrutiny. We will provide further updates in due course, following a 12-month implementation period for this new industry guidance.

[HCWS964]