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posted by cmn32480 on Monday January 08 2018, @03:34PM   Printer-friendly
from the 1-in-365,214,231-chance-of-getting-the-good-stuff dept.

Loot boxes in video games give the player a random item, perhaps a weapon or a skin, typically in exchange for payment. Should they be viewed as a legal sweepstakes or as an illegal lottery? This video examines the legal issues and explains how loot boxes could be structured to avoid running afoul of gambling laws (which vary by state) in the U.S.. The video concludes that many current implementations of loot boxes are really illegal lotteries, and conjectures that major game companies use them anyway because the risk of being prosecuted isn't enough to dissuade them.

Previously: Belgium Moving to Ban "Loot Boxes" Throughout Europe, Hawaii Could Restrict Sale to Minors


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  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by bzipitidoo on Monday January 08 2018, @05:51PM (3 children)

    by bzipitidoo (4388) on Monday January 08 2018, @05:51PM (#619598) Journal

    If loot boxes break the rules, then a whole bunch of related things are on shaky legal ground. To address this "problem", first have to clarify just what exactly is legal, then have to change a lot of games. To be especially thorough, better check every computer game ever made, back into the 1970s, and rewrite them. Yeah.

    Or we could just tell the scaremongers (lawyers?) to buzz off and get back to our games.

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 08 2018, @11:40PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 08 2018, @11:40PM (#619772)

    You win the internet today.

  • (Score: 5, Insightful) by Mykl on Monday January 08 2018, @11:45PM

    by Mykl (1112) on Monday January 08 2018, @11:45PM (#619774)

    My preferred solution is to allow Loot Boxes in games, even ones which can be classified as gambling. IF a particular game's implementation falls under the 'gambling' definition however, that game must receive an R rating to recognize the fact that it should only be played by those aged 18+.

    EA won't want to alienate the under-18 base, so will change their systems. But it remains a choice for each developer whether they want to include gambling in their game or not.

  • (Score: 2) by Wootery on Wednesday January 10 2018, @12:38PM

    by Wootery (2341) on Wednesday January 10 2018, @12:38PM (#620444)

    Or we could just tell the scaremongers (lawyers?) to buzz off and get back to our games.

    Disagree. If EA are trying to turn children into gambling addicts, I want the government to step in.