Is it legal to use loot boxes in computer games?
- What is a loot box?
- Is it legal to use loot boxes in computer games;
- Legal integration of loot boxes into the game.
What is a loot box?
The word lootbox is formed from the English words "loot", which means any in-game values ??and "box" - a box, a container. In other words, this is a kind of virtual in-game box, which contains any improvement that allows you to speed up the gameplay. All kinds of slot machines work according to this principle, where a player receives a random prize for a token or coin.
The loot box can contain completely different items that affect the gameplay. These items can both affect the gameplay and be a purely decorative item. The gameplay can be affected by any characters or items in the loot box that improve the characteristics of the player. Skins, clothing and other items that change the look of the game can be used as decorative items.
A loot box does not always look like the box described above, but rather a kind of collective name. Improvements can take a wide variety of forms, and their presentation in the game depends solely on the developers and the flight of their imagination.
Examples of this presentation of loot boxes include:
With the development of free-to-play distribution of game content, loot boxes, regardless of their presentation, have become extremely popular. The threshold for entering the game has dropped to zero, then the player, being involved in the process, wants to continue the game with the best characteristics, or to speed up its passage, for which he may need an in-game purchase of a loot box.
Is it legal to use loot boxes in computer games?
There is no specific legislative regulation of loot boxes, but the issue of legality of use has been raised more than once by the gaming and legal community. From a legal point of view, loot boxes can be compared to lotteries, bets or sweepstakes. By convention, the purchase of a lottery ticket does not guarantee any winnings by the buyer. The denomination of the lottery ticket becomes known only after the direct drawing.
A similar mechanism is used by loot boxes. When buying a loot box, the player has no idea about its content. The contents of the loot box may, as it cost nothing, and multiply the player's investment tens and hundreds of times. But, the key difference between loot boxes and lotteries is that when you win the lottery, the player receives a tangible object. Anything can be such an item. In the case of loot boxes, the user receives only a virtual item used only in a particular game, the value of which depends on each particular game and the rating of this item by the gaming community.
Legislators began to pay close attention to the regulation of loot boxes in 2010 with the release of Star Wars: Battlefront 2, where the entire gameplay was tied to loot boxes. Without using loot boxes, the player had a very difficult time competing with opponents using this opportunity. This case led to the fact that in a number of countries legislators introduced regulation of the use of loot boxes.
For example, in China and Korea, game developers are required to show the likelihood of winning any prize, and in Japan, whose players are especially known for their addiction to using loot boxes, they used a special mechanic called "kompu gacha". This is a kind of mechanics of paying for an in-game object by paying for it several times. Conventionally, there is a certain main prize, which can only be obtained by acquiring a number of additional positions. In 2012, Japanese lawmakers vetoed games using the "kompu gacha" mechanic.
In Australia, there have been extensive studies showing gamblers' perceptions of loot boxes as gambling, but so far there has been no legislation or ban on loot boxes.
Legal integration of loot boxes into the game
It is not a crime to integrate a loot box into a game. Using loot boxes in a game is absolutely legal if the loot box and its contents are used exclusively within the game. If, when buying a loot box, the player obtains any material objects, then this action can be qualified as a game of chance.
But, at the same time, further exchange of the received item for real money is not prohibited, the main thing is that this mechanic is not spelled out in the game itself. There are many services where players buy and sell game items for real money and, in some cases, their cost can be thousands of dollars.
An important point is the information content of the player about the contents of the loot box. If the player possesses this information, there is no potential for the legislator to interpret the purchase of loot boxes as a game of chance.
But, often, it is the uncertainty of the content that is the driving interest of the player to buy a loot box, since for the same cost, it is possible to get any item, both several times higher than the cost of a loot box, and to be several times less. In this case, it is required to obtain a certificate of the random number generator and the corresponding licenses. It is necessary to analyze the project for signs of gambling.
Thus, it is necessary to be extremely precise when integrating loot boxes into the game, since it can be illegal and can be interpreted as a game of chance. If you have any questions or you need help with legal registration of loot boxes, you can contact the lawyers of A4 Law Firm, where you will be provided with professional assistance in this.
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