Video game loot boxes 'pushing children into gambling addiction', NHS chief warns
Neil Puffett
Monday, January 27, 2020
Video games risk “setting kids up for addiction” as a result of gambling being built in to them, the country’s top mental health nurse has warned.
NHS mental health director Claire Murdoch has called on gaming companies to address the potential for gambling addiction by banning so-called "loot boxes" from their products.
Loot boxes are virtual collections of items such as weapons or characters that can be used in the game. The boxes can be purchased by children for significant amounts of money, sometimes without the knowledge or consent of their parents. Murdoch believes that the fact people do not know what items they will be given until they’ve paid encourages them to keep spending and playing.
Examples of children spending money without their parents’ knowledge include a 16-year-old who spent £2,000 on a basketball game and a 15-year-old who lost £1,000 in a shooting game.
The Gambling Commission does not regulate some loot boxes due to a loophole meaning it is not classed as gambling. Under current gambling legislation, this is because there is no official way to put a monetary value on what is inside loot boxes.
In addition to banning loot boxes, Murdoch has called on gaming companies to introduce fair and realistic spending limits to prevent people from spending thousands in games, and support parents by increasing their awareness on the risks of in-game spending.
In response to growing concerns about addiction to gaming, the NHS has confirmed the opening of a new treatment centre, alongside up to 14 new NHS gambling clinics nationwide, to address mental ill health linked to addiction.
Murdoch said: “Frankly no company should be setting kids up for addiction by teaching them to gamble on the content of these loot boxes. No firm should sell to children loot box games with this element of chance, so yes those sales should end.
“Young people’s health is at stake, and although the NHS is stepping up with these new, innovative services available to families through our Long Term Plan, we cannot do this alone, so other parts of society must do what they can to limit risks and safeguard children’s wellbeing.”
A report by the Royal Society of Public Health, published last month, found that more than half of young people believe that playing a video game could lead to gambling and that the link between gaming and gambling is a negative one.
