The UK Gambling Commission is set to investigate the increasingly ‘blurred line’ between video games and gambling, amid growing concerns that children are being exposed to betting by third-party websites and in-game ‘loot boxes’.

Loot boxes are containers in games filled with mystery virtual items, such as weapons or currency. Players can get the items either by paying or through game play.

In a joint declaration with 13 other European gambling commissions and the Washington State Gambling Commission, regulators said that they will ‘thoroughly analyse’ the way video games are designed, including the increasing use of loot boxes, to ensure they comply with national gambling laws.

“We are increasingly concerned with the risks being posed by the blurring of lines between gambling and other forms of digital entertainment such as video gaming,” the regulators said in the declaration.

“Concerns in this area have manifested themselves in controversies relating to skin betting, loot boxes, social casino gaming and the use of gambling themed content within video games available to children.”

The commissions will prioritise a crack down on unlicensed third-party websites that engage in the illegal gambling of items and contents linked to popular video games.

So-called ‘skin betting’, in which items won while playing games such as Counter-Strike: Global Offensive can be turned into real cash or gambled on third-party websites, has become another controversial issue in the gaming industry.