Six Dutch political parties ask for loot box reforms

The Netherlands has long sounded an alarm that loot boxes are very much like gambling, even though a court ruling did not find evidence this to be the case. Regardless, opposition against loot boxes has been mounting steadily in the country and as of right now, six political parties have come together to demand a broader discussion on the matter, submitting a bill to the House of Representatives of the Netherlands.

In places such as the United Kingdom, 55,000 children under the legal gambling age have been found to have a gambling problem, and the majority of them have been buying loot boxes. In the Netherlands, a new law that came into effect on Friday prohibited the use of popular personalityimagery to promote gambling products and services.

All of this points to the fact that lawmakers are concerned about children’s well-being and perhaps for a good reason. The six parties are backing a bill that essentially wants to ban loot boxes, as it argues that children are being manipulated into making microtransactions, and that loot boxes are an outright form of gambling.

The bill further argues that as a result of such behavior, families can end up being burdened with unexpected bills or children may end up developing an addiction. The Netherlands may appear as a bit of a hardliner on loot boxes, but the country has a long track record for protecting consumers.

Most recently, the country prohibited the release of Diablo Immortal, expressing concerns over the way the game would be monetized in the country and the use of loot boxes. But with a court deciding in March that loot boxes are not gambling, banning these containers outright would be difficult.

Neighboring Belgium though managed to suspend loot box sales on its territory in 2019, forcing FIFA to stop selling its namesake Points in the country.

However, there has been no measurable assessment of whether the prohibition of loot boxes has led to a drop in the number of children who are suffering from problem gambling, for example, which could be an important guideline when trying to figure out whether loot boxes have an impact in cultivating problem gamblers from a younger age.

Image credit: Activision/Blizzard