The Parliament is proposing to ban gambling practices across Germany. Why didn't everyone agree with him?
The ruling coalition in the German state of Bremen is calling for a ban on so-called loot boxes in video games throughout Germany. This initiative has sparked a lively discussion among politicians and experts.
Loot boxes are virtual "containers" or sets of in-game items whose contents are determined randomly. Players do not know what they will get in the end, but they pay for it in-game or even real money. Inside, you can find rare armor, weapons, cosmetic items for the character, and so on. In terms of mechanics, loot boxes resemble something like roulette or slot machines.
A coalition of three parties in Bremen's state Parliament — the SPD, the Greens and the Left-voted in favor of a resolution calling for a complete ban on loot boxes at the federal level. In addition, the document contains requirements to restrict access to online casinos and streams of games that include such mechanics.
According to the authors of the resolution, loot boxes can cause gambling addiction, especially among children and adolescents. "In the 2000s, loot boxes attracted a lot of teenagers and young people to computer games. Many people have taken to buying virtual "containers" in the hope of getting rare items for their characters. The principle of randomness, similar to the mechanisms of gambling, was very addictive. Some young men became quite addicted-they invested large sums of money, trying to get the best things. Even adult players sometimes broke down," the official document says .
The opposition CDU party did not support the idea of a complete ban on loot boxes. In their alternative proposal, the Christian Democrats called for a more flexible approach. In their opinion, games should bring joy, and not secretly encourage gambling trends. As a measure, the CDU proposes to introduce age restrictions on the purchase of loot boxes, as well as oblige developers to indicate the probability of receiving different items in sets.
Experts also disagreed about the appropriateness of the ban. American lawyer Kirk Sigmon, who specializes in video game legal issues, believes that good intentions of legislators often lead to bad laws. It states: "There are many reasons to criticize loot boxes — in particular, they often turn out to be only a disguised form of gambling and force gamers to spend large sums for the sake of a scanty chance to get some kind of virtual prize. However, depending on how the concept of "loot box" is defined, bans can be circumvented (or, even worse, absolutely harmless game mechanics can fall under the distribution)."
At the same time, lawyer Jonathan Rosenfeld fully supports Bremen's initiative. He believes that loot boxes often manipulate vulnerable players, especially children. In his opinion, the ban will help protect the younger generation.
So far, no country has completely banned loot boxes at the legislative level. In Belgium, they are actually covered by the law banning gambling, but this is not yet applied in practice. In the Netherlands, regulators tried to restrict certain types of loot boxes, but the court ruled that there were no legal grounds for this.
The ruling coalition in the German state of Bremen is calling for a ban on so-called loot boxes in video games throughout Germany. This initiative has sparked a lively discussion among politicians and experts.
Loot boxes are virtual "containers" or sets of in-game items whose contents are determined randomly. Players do not know what they will get in the end, but they pay for it in-game or even real money. Inside, you can find rare armor, weapons, cosmetic items for the character, and so on. In terms of mechanics, loot boxes resemble something like roulette or slot machines.
A coalition of three parties in Bremen's state Parliament — the SPD, the Greens and the Left-voted in favor of a resolution calling for a complete ban on loot boxes at the federal level. In addition, the document contains requirements to restrict access to online casinos and streams of games that include such mechanics.
According to the authors of the resolution, loot boxes can cause gambling addiction, especially among children and adolescents. "In the 2000s, loot boxes attracted a lot of teenagers and young people to computer games. Many people have taken to buying virtual "containers" in the hope of getting rare items for their characters. The principle of randomness, similar to the mechanisms of gambling, was very addictive. Some young men became quite addicted-they invested large sums of money, trying to get the best things. Even adult players sometimes broke down," the official document says .
The opposition CDU party did not support the idea of a complete ban on loot boxes. In their alternative proposal, the Christian Democrats called for a more flexible approach. In their opinion, games should bring joy, and not secretly encourage gambling trends. As a measure, the CDU proposes to introduce age restrictions on the purchase of loot boxes, as well as oblige developers to indicate the probability of receiving different items in sets.
Experts also disagreed about the appropriateness of the ban. American lawyer Kirk Sigmon, who specializes in video game legal issues, believes that good intentions of legislators often lead to bad laws. It states: "There are many reasons to criticize loot boxes — in particular, they often turn out to be only a disguised form of gambling and force gamers to spend large sums for the sake of a scanty chance to get some kind of virtual prize. However, depending on how the concept of "loot box" is defined, bans can be circumvented (or, even worse, absolutely harmless game mechanics can fall under the distribution)."
At the same time, lawyer Jonathan Rosenfeld fully supports Bremen's initiative. He believes that loot boxes often manipulate vulnerable players, especially children. In his opinion, the ban will help protect the younger generation.
So far, no country has completely banned loot boxes at the legislative level. In Belgium, they are actually covered by the law banning gambling, but this is not yet applied in practice. In the Netherlands, regulators tried to restrict certain types of loot boxes, but the court ruled that there were no legal grounds for this.
