Australian Legislator Wants To Ban Loot Boxes For Minors

The fight to regulate loot boxes in games is still ongoing throughout the world, and one of the latest people to jump in is an Australian member of Parliament. Andrew Wilkie, an MP from Tasmania in the lower house of the Australian legislature, is planning on introducing a bill to ban loot boxes for minors.

First reported by the Daily Telegraph and then by Kotaku, Wilkie has said that loot boxes should be considered gambling and thus the country needs to prohibit companies from targeting kids with them. While the bill's text hasn't been shared yet, Wilkie suggests that the legislation will use the Australian games rating system to regulate loot boxes.

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In essence, the bill would force any game featuring loot boxes to be automatically rated R18+ (the equivalent of Mature in the United States). However, unlike the ESRB ratings in the U.S., the Australian ratings board is a government agency backed by law. An R18+ game cannot legally be sold to or bought by minors, which is how Wilkie's bill would be enforced. In comments to the Daily Telegraph, Wilkie explained that he viewed the possibility of "grooming" children for gambling as sufficiently important to require legislation.

Continue Reading at GameSpot
Filed under: Video Games

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