LogFAQs > #965401773

adjl posted...

There's some (very little) room to debate whether or not loot boxes are technically gambling, given the lack of direct monetary reward

Yeah, but it borders on the Japanese having pachinko parlors that don't give out cash rewards (because that's gambling, and therefore illegal), but which give out prize tokens that can be redeemed by a completely unaffiliated store right next door for cash rewards (so the end result is exactly the same). While the work-around avoids breaking gambling laws and regulations on a technicality, literally everyone involved knows exactly what's actually going on.

As you pointed out, loot box mechanics and similar absolutely trigger all of the same mental processes and addiction channels that gambling for money does, tend to create the exact same problems and patterns of abuse, and ultimately generate income for publishers in exactly the same way actual gambling does, so almost every attempt at an argument that it's not gambling because money isn't involved is facile at best and actively malicious at worst.

There's also precedent against it anyway - schools banning Magic: the Gathering cards back in the 90s because playing for ante was a form of gambling (in spite of the fact that no money changed hands) established that governments are willing to accept the premise that something can be gambling even with no monetary reward, especially when children are involved.