Loot boxes are gambling-like features in video games that are not currently well-regulated. This study looked at whether loot boxes in video games offered on Steam, an online platform, comply with the gambling law of many countries. The researchers analyzed descriptions of video games offered on the Steam Community Market. As of February 2023, there were 165 video games on the platform that offered buying/selling of in-game items. Among those games, 36 had loot boxes with content that could be bought and sold between players, which violate the gambling laws of many countries. None of these video games featured a warning label about the presence of loot boxes, which violate consumer protection law in certain countries.
A year after the study results were provided to the gambling regulators of several countries, all 36 video games were still offering loot boxes with content that could be bought and sold, and 35 still had no warning label. These findings suggest that illegal loot boxes are currently available on one of the most popular video game platforms, and gambling regulators have not enforced the law regarding such loot boxes.
