The Netherlands Declares Loot Boxes are Gambling

Well, it’s finally happened. The Loot Box purge has begun.

If you recall way back in November of last year, we reported that the Netherlands was starting an investigation on the legality of loot boxes and if they constituted a gambling mechanic, which would then mean they would be violating the Betting and Gaming Act. Since a lot of companies have “chilled” on loot boxes after the disaster of Star Wars Battlefront 2, it was easy to forget this investigation was going on, but now it has emerged from the confines of our memory with the results of the investigation…

According to the Netherlands, loot boxes… are absolutely gambling.

To be absolutely specific, the Netherlands Gaming Authority, or NGA, examined 10 games that prominently featured loot boxes, and determined that in four of those games, the value of the items in the loot boxes translated into real-world value, even if you can’t specifically trade those items for real-world money or goods. For the six that were found to be “okay,” they don’t have to change anything: but for the four games who were seen as problematic (which, according to a translation of a Dutch website NOS, include PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, Rocket League, FIFA 18, and Dota 2), they have eight weeks to either change how their loot box system works, or they’ll suffer fines, or possibly even lose the right to sell their games in the Netherlands.

While the idea of loot boxes have always disgusted me, taking broad legal action against them made me uncomfortable: offering that kind of sweeping power to governments and politicians for a medium they don’t understand was a huge risk. That said, this isn’t actually so bad: individually checking complained-about games and giving the worst offenders time to change their practices? I’m game for that.