Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to the guidance on Loot boxes in video games: update on improvements to industry-led protections, published by her Department on 18 July 2023, what steps she is taking to review the impact of these measures on protecting people from gambling harm.

Following the Government response to the call for evidence on loot boxes in video games, the Government has welcomed new industry-led guidance that aims to protect young people from gambling harm.

Measures to protect young people should ensure that the purchase of loot boxes should be unavailable to all children and young people unless enabled by a parent or guardian, and all players should have access to, and be aware of, spending controls and transparent information to support safe and responsible gameplay.

DCMS has published a Video Games Research Framework to support high quality independent research into video games, building understanding of the impact of video games, including loot boxes.

In parallel to the framework, we are now working closely with academics to ensure specific and robust evaluation of the implementation and efficacy of the new industry-led measures on loot boxes in meeting the government’s objectives. We will provide an update following a 12-month implementation period.