The House of Lords Committee on the Social and Economic Impact of the Gambling Industry has called into question the difference between loot boxes found in today's Video Games and "games of chance" in a report.

The House of Lords informed the UK government that it "must act immediately to bring loot boxes within the remit of gambling legislation and regulation." The report goes as far as to call for regulations under section 6(6) of the Gambling Act 2005 for classification as opposed to a lengthier review of the Gambling Act by government.

Protect the children

Additionally, the House of Lords has cited that loot boxes especially pose a significant risk to young people who play video games, a concern that sounds all too familiar to many governments in the current world.

"There is academic research which proves that there is a connection, though not necessarily a causal link, between loot box spending and problem gambling," the report claims. "We echo the conclusions of the Children's Commissioner's report, that if a product looks like gambling and feels like gambling, it should be regulated as gambling.

Here we go again

The House of Lords Gambling Committee isn't the only regulatory body to make an attempt at classifying loot boxes as gambling.

The Belgium Gaming Commission has already ruled that loot boxes in video games are illegal gambling tools and will fine any convict those game publishers that sell them as part of their video games.

The country of Belgium is joined, in its classification, by the Netherlands. However, the Netherlands will instead ban those games that feature loot boxes as opposed to convicting and imprisoning its game publishers.

Hawaii's government is also lobbying for bills to ban or regulate loot boxes in video games to protect children from potential gambling.

Thanks a lot, EA

Once again, it must be noted that the majority of games peddling loot boxes that have come under fire from these countries belong to none other than Electronic Arts.

Although the American game publisher isn't the one in the gaming industry that implements microtransactions in its video games, it's the one that instigated legal ramifications from lawmakers and parents alike due to its excessive use of them in its "FIFA," "Star War: Battlefront II" and "UFC" titles.

The company saw its future with loot boxes threatened following an investigation into 19 of the video games that utilize them. However, even now, the game publisher continues to do so and is even disputing the legislations of these countries. But more and more seem to be joining the fight to regulate and/or ban these predatory practices.
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