Are free loot boxes illegal?

Currently, courts in various jurisdictions have interpreted loot boxes differently, and as such, these virtual items will continue to be a legal gray area unless and until such loot boxes are regulated at the state or federal level.
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Are lootboxes illegal?

Are Loot Boxes Legal? Today, with a few exceptions, most forms of loot boxes remain legal and unregulated worldwide. However, proponents of loot box regulation argue that the chance and rarity mechanics make loot boxes akin to gambling and constitute predatory practices toward minors.
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Are loot crates gambling?

The government believed that, although loot boxes had some similarities with gambling, an important distinction was the ability to 'cash out rewards'. The government said that a loot box prize 'does not normally have real world monetary value outside of the game'.”
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What is the controversy with loot crates?

The source of controversy here is that buying a loot box means paying for a randomized reward of variable value. This in turn results in loot boxes being likened to gambling, and to related claims, such as that loot boxes are addictive and, in a sense, similar to slot machines.
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Is my loot box legal video gaming?

Additionally, a large amount of the video game player base is under the age of 18, essentially allowing underage players to gamble for in-game content. In the United States, loot boxes over the last decade or so have generally been treated as legal.
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Wait... shouldn't Loot Boxes be illegal?

Is China banning loot boxes?

China outlines new rules banning log in rewards, loot boxes and other in-game spending. New rules have been laid out by regulators in China that aim to reduce the amount of money gamers spend within video games.
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Are loot boxes predatory?

With the prevalence of the gaming industry, comes predatory practices designed to get as much money as possible. Some of these practices include loot boxes and gacha. Loot boxes and gacha both involve people spending money to get cosmetics, special abilities, or characters.
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Are lootboxes bad?

Loot Box Spending May Lead To Problem Gambling

If you are concerned your child has a problem, there are many addiction resources online, including helplines from SAMHSA , the National Council on Problem Gambling , and state helplines.
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Are loot boxes ethical?

Random methods such as loot boxes are inherently problematic if the odds are not known to players, since there is no way to evaluate whether spending money on them is worth it. Even if the odds are known, they are very similar to gambling and run similar risks, including a worry about addiction.
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Is it illegal to buy stuff from China?

No, it is not illegal to order from China unless your country has some regulations against it. Authentic sources must be utilized to order from China.
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Why is China so strict on gaming?

Responding to public concern over the growing amount of time Chinese youth spent playing video games, the government imposed a slate of restrictions, including a rule requiring developers to limit minors' playing time.
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Is China banning gacha?

It looks like Chinese authorities have scrapped plans to further tighten the regulations around video games with in-game purchases and gacha elements, which were originally proposed in December 2023 and immediately caused the share prices of gaming giants like Tencent and NetEase to plunge.
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Which country banned loot boxes first?

Abstract. In 2018, Belgium made the world news for being the first country to ban loot boxes in games for all its inhabitants.
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Is it illegal to play video games for money?

While the UK, Canada, and other countries are exploring the best ways to regulate real-money gaming, US federal law does not forbid it, largely leaving regulation of fantasy sports, online poker, trivia contests, and other skill-based games to the states.
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What was the first lootbox game?

Loot boxes also incorporate elements of the randomness of acquiring gachapon capsule toys. The first known instance of a loot-box system is believed to be an item called "Gachapon ticket" which was introduced in the Japanese version of MapleStory, a side-scrolling MMORPG, in June 2004.
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Why loot boxes should be banned?

Several potential harms have been associated with loot boxes, such as potential mental health and financial issues and their close resemblance to gambling. Due to these issues, some countries have started regulating loot boxes, with some countries outright banning certain types of loot boxes.
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Why did the Netherlands ban loot boxes?

Similarly, in an op-ed for his political party's website, Bontenbal called loot boxes addictive and a “disguised form of gambling” that places unseen costs on families. “That is why loot boxes should be banned as soon as possible,” Bontenbal said.
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Why are loot boxes addictive?

Loot Boxes are Designed to be Addictive

In this regard, they are similar to slot machines and other gambling products because players risk money for a chance of getting a reward. Loot boxes affect your brain similar to how slot machines do (Whyte, 2019): Prizes are distributed randomly.
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How do loot boxes make money?

Loot boxes that players have to purchase with real-world money to engage with are implemented by companies as monetisation methods in video games, known as 'microtransactions,' which represent an alternative, or complementary, business model to selling copies of the software or providing subscription-based services [10 ...
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How are loot boxes predatory?

The low probability of obtaining a desired item means that the player will have to purchase an indeterminate number of loot boxes to obtain the item. Loot boxes resemble gambling slot machines because they require no player skill and have a randomly determined outcome (i.e., prize).
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Are loot boxes psychologically akin to gambling?

Loot boxes provide in-game rewards based on chance and have been likened to a form of gambling, with some studies showing that gamers who favour loot boxes tend to score higher on measures of problem gambling (Drummond et al., 2019;Griffiths, 2018;Macey & Hamari, 2019). ... ...
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Should gacha games be illegal?

Our investigation indicates that the developers of these games promote them as “free” and actively market them to minors, but do not disclose that the gacha system is highly addictive and may constitute illegal gambling in many states.
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Did Overwatch get sued for Lootboxes?

Blizzard Entertainment Inc. won a bid to keep a lawsuit over “loot boxes” in one of its games out of court when a California appellate court agreed the minor plaintiff had agreed to arbitrate all claims against the game maker.
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What happened to Lootboxes?

Loot Box sales ended on August 30, 2022. Loot Boxes will all be automatically opened with the launch of Overwatch 2 at which point all remaining unopened Loot Boxes will be automatically opened upon entering the Hero Gallery.
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What country banned loot boxes?

Belgium continues to maintain its 'ban' on loot boxes because the country's gambling law has a uniquely wide definition. This means that loot boxes cannot be legally offered for sale to either children or adults.
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