Are loot boxes illegal in the US?

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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Which country banned loot boxes?

Belgium: The ban continues

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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Why are loot boxes allowed?

They are seen by developers and publishers of video games not only to help generate ongoing revenue for games while avoiding drawbacks of paid downloadable content or game subscriptions, but to also keep player interest within games by offering new content and cosmetics through loot-box reward systems.
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Why are loot boxes not gambling?

Where in-game items obtained via loot boxes are confined for use within the game and cannot be cashed out it is unlikely to be caught as a licensable gambling activity. In those cases, our legal powers would not allow us to step in.
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Are loot boxes illegal in California?

Today, TechFreedom filed an amicus brief urging the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit to affirm the lower court's decision holding that loot boxes do not constitute illegal gambling devices under California anti-gambling laws.
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Lootboxes and Pay to Win May Become Illegal in the U.S.

Are loot boxes banned in China?

Furthermore games will be no longer allowed to offer probability-based lucky draw features to minors – ending the loot boxes and gacha monetisation seen in hundreds of games – and publishers will have to enforce limits on how much money can be spent in game and will be banned from enabling the auction or speculation of ...
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Are microtransactions illegal?

Although the GDPR is not specifically focused on regulating microtransactions or in-game purchases, it regulates the collection and use of personal data. Under the GDPR, video game companies are required to obtain explicit consent from users before collecting and using their information.
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Are loot boxes still legal?

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 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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Are loot boxes going away?

Loot Box sales ended on August 30, 2022.
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What is the problem with loot boxes?

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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What are the cons of loot boxes?

Among the findings, the work shows that loot box use is driven by beliefs such as 'I'll win in a minute' – which really echoes the psychology we see in gambling. The studies contribute to a substantial body of evidence establishing that, for some, loot boxes can lead to financial and psychological harm.
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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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What game invented loot boxes?

Loot boxes were first introduced in the Korean game MapleStory in 2003. In 2008, Electronic Arts (EA) was the first major game developer to implement loot boxes with the introduction of a new online-only game mode in FIFA 09 [6], called FIFA Ultimate Team (FUT).
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How much money do loot boxes make?

The purchasing of loot boxes with real-world currency is asserted to have produced 15 billion US dollars for the video game industry in 2020 (Juniper Research, 2021). The increasing revenue is associated with a substantial proportion of contemporary games containing loot boxes.
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Which country has the most banned games?

Brazil. Brazil has banned many video games since 1999, mainly due to depictions of violence and cruelty, making it illegal to distribute and otherwise sell these games.
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Are loot boxes good or bad?

Loot Box Spending May Lead To Problem Gambling

Emerging research suggests that loot box purchases and similar gambling behavior among children or teens can lead to problem gambling later in life. These activities seem fun and harmless, potentially normalizing risky behavior.
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Are microtransactions ethical?

Are microtransactions in game design unethical? Not inherently, no. The first few microtransactions which existed were pretty reasonable, actually. For example, the first case I saw of microtransactions was in Mechwarrior 4; the base game was fully playable, but what they had were mini-expansion packs.
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Is the buying of loot boxes in video games a form of gambling or gaming?

Loot boxes are items within video games which players pay to open and, ultimately, to randomly obtain an object whose value is initially unknown. Being easily accessible for both teenagers and adults, loot boxes have been associated with gambling.
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Do loot boxes lead to gambling?

Children may not realise they are spending real money or be aware that small purchases can add up. Research also shows that exposure to loot boxes can affect a young person's likelihood of experiencing gambling harm later in life.
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Are loot boxes illegal in Japan?

Japan has imposed a ban on a certain type of loot box known as “kompu gacha”, which required players to win several specific prizes to combine them into or exchange them for a more valuable or rarer prize.
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Are Gacha games illegal in Japan?

As previously mentioned, the Japanese Consumer Affairs Agency declared the Complete Gacha system to be illegal in 2012 (Gregorian calendar year).
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Are cash games illegal?

The legality of cash games (also known as real-money games) depends on the gambling laws of each state or jurisdiction. In the United States, gambling laws are regulated at the state level, which means that each state has its own set of laws and regulations regarding gambling activities.
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Is it illegal to play cards for money?

California Penal Code § 330 PC prohibits gambling, also called gaming, by the use of a “banking or percentage game.” That said, it is still lawful in California to play social poker games and other games of chance, skill, and strategy involving individual bets.
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Is it illegal to sell game items?

Because they are not your property, it is possible for you to be accused of Civil crimes (though highly unlikely and this depends heavily on your state laws here in the U.S.), and you can be sued for selling them without express permission.
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