Spain bans minors from accessing loot boxes

The problem of loot boxes, reward boxes or loot boxes, their original name in English, is a specific problem that points to a different, broader scope, i.e. manages to turn the gaming experience into something dirty. Yes, dirty. I think, and I’m sure you imagined it, that some developers and publishers have decided for some time to turn their games into a kind of casino, which makes even paradigms as deplorable as paid games. in-app purchases remain an acceptable option.

For those readers who don’t know what loot boxes are, I’ll quickly explain. Yippee a mechanic introduced in many games as an in-app purchase, which allows us to obtain (after payment, of course) an envelope, a chest or any similar element, the contents of which are a surprise. A surprise we won’t know of course until we check out the box and open it to see its contents. The only prior information is usually the probability of getting rewards of one level or another (normal, rare, legendary, etc.).

The most obvious difference between loot boxes and “conventional” in-app purchases is that You finally know what you are buying, whether it’s an exceptional weapon, a skin that will amaze you all, or a very rare character. However, with loot boxes, you will be betting (virtually always with real money, which will be necessary to buy the virtual game money necessary to buy the loot boxes, of course.) to try to get the desired reward.

Loot boxes have been in the crosshairs of many regulators for several years.. In June 2022, we learned about an initiative led by the Norwegian Consumer Council to prevent minors from accessing them, and just a month later we learned that the Spanish executive is already working on legislation in this regard. The problem is that, as we know all too well, things move slowly in the palace.

Now, better late than never, or all that ends well, I leave it to you to choose the most appropriate consideration, and that is that finally Spain’s Ministry of Consumer Affairs has banned minors from accessing loot boxes. The long-awaited measure was approved by the Council of Ministers yesterday. This new regulation has not yet been published in the BOE, but we hope that this final step will happen soon, giving its application the green light.

The articulation of this standard which It already has precedents in other European countriesis an important and positive step that aims to translate into measures such as those we have already seen in Belgium and the Netherlands with Diablo Immortal and in Austria with FIFA 23. And the difficulties in implementing truly reliable control systems that prevent Full Access minors to loot boxes requires stricter measures such as those listed above.