The UK government will not introduce lootbox laws following a near-two year enquiry into their potential dangers, but has instead requested that the industry self-regulates.
The government's website released the enquiry's findings, stating that "the government does not intend to amend or extend the scope of gambling regulation to cover loot boxes at this time".
The report highlighted that there are both positive consequences of loot boxes (good loot and progressing and improving gameplay) and negative ones (causing financial difficulties, poor mental health, and gambling problems amongst other things).
The government is asking the video game industry to make changes itself, however, rather than following the lead of countries like the Netherlands and Belgium, which introduced laws to change how lootboxes are utilised.
Per the UK government, evidence from 15 peer-reviewed empirical studies "identified a stable and consistent association between loot box use and problem gambling" but the report said "there are a range of plausible explanations that could underpin this association between loot box spending and problem gambling behaviours," and further evidence is therefore required.
This call for more research is one of the UK government's requests to the video game industry, as "better evidence and research, enabled by improved access to data, should be developed to inform future policy making".
Its other requests are that no children or young people should be able to buy lootboxes without parental approval, and every player should have access to or be aware of spending controls and "information to support safe and responsible gaming".
While no formal changes are being made at a governmental level right now, the report does state that lawmakers "will not hesitate to consider legislation if companies do not bring in sufficient measures to keep players safe."
This is just the latest in a long-running and ongoing conversation around lootboxes in gaming, though the first in a while that hasn't explicitly condemned them. An investigation from the Norwegian Consumer Council in June (that was backed by 18 European countries) found lootboxes to be manipulative and exploitative.
Some U.S. politicians also took a stance against lootboxes last year by sending a letter to game companies that asked them to better protect young people from predatory game design.
Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.