The NHS' mental health boss has said loot boxes are "setting kids up for addiction by teaching them to gamble". Calling Government for a ban on selling loot boxes to children.

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NHS Mental Health Director Says Loot boxes Push Kids Into Gambling

The loot box back-and-forth rumbles on, with British health organisation NHS urging game developers to think more carefully about so-called “surprise mechanics” which could lead children into gambling addictions. In a strongly-worded statement, NHS mental health director Claire Murdoch called for a crackdown on gambling addiction risks – and that would involve video game companies banning loot boxes from games children play.

The NHS confirmed the opening of a new treatment centre in response to growing concerns about addiction to gaming. This sits alongside up to 14 new NHS gambling clinics nationwide designed to address significant mental ill health linked to addiction.

“Frankly no company should be setting kids up for addiction by teaching them to gamble on the content of these loot boxes”, she said. “No firm should sell to children loot box games with this element of chance, so yes those sales should end.”

Loot boxes aren’t currently regulated by England’s Gambling Commission because their contents can’t be monetized. The report calls this a “loophole” because, “Despite this, third party websites selling gaming accounts and rare items are commonplace and easy to find on places such as eBay across the internet.”

Murdoch called on game publishers to ban games whose loot boxes encourage children to gamble, as well as to introduce spending limits, tell players the odds of receiving each item before they buy a loot box, and “Support parents by increasing their awareness on the risks of in-game spending”.

Murdoch joins the independent Children’s Commissioner for England in asking the Gambling Commission to perhaps reconsider. Regardless of whether or not there’s a cash benefit to cracking open a crate, the Children’s Commissioner reckoned their argument “fails to recognise the value placed by children on winning certain items, even when those items cannot be cashed out for money.”

A report by the Royal Society of Public Health in December found over half of young people believe playing a video game could lead to gambling, and the link between gaming and gambling is a negative one.

Murdoch wants a ban on sales of games with loot boxes that encourage children to gamble, wants game companies to introduce “fair and realistic” spending limits to prevent people from spending thousands in games, wants games to make clear to players what percentage chance they have of obtaining the items they want before they purchase loot boxes, and wants the industry to support parents by increasing their awareness on the risks of in-game spending.

Ms Murdoch has called on gaming companies to:

Ban sales of games with loot boxes that encourage children to gamble

Introduce fair and realistic spending limits to prevent people from spending thousands in games

Make clear to users what percentage chance they have of obtaining the items they want before they purchase loot boxes

Support parents by increasing their awareness on the risks of in-game spending

Latest figures from the Gambling Commission show 55,000 children are classed as having a gambling problem and the NHS estimates there are around 400,000 people with a serious gambling problem in England.

Recent data shows that more than half of UK parents allow their children to play video games intended for people aged 18 or over, without supervision or having played the game themselves.

86% of parents believed playing games aimed at people aged 18 or over would have no influence on their children but 62% of parents ended up trying to take games back from their kids after they noticed a problem.

Once referred to one of the new NHS specialist clinics, psychiatrists and clinical psychologists will work with patients who could have a range of complex problems including persistent gambling, compulsive behaviours, development disorders and difficulties earlier in childhood that underlie addiction.

The NHS said the Gambling Commission does not regulate loot boxes “due to a loophole” meaning it is not classed as gambling, referencing the inability to “cash out” items. But of course, as we’ve reported in the past, cashing out is possible, although it often involves third-party websites. The NHS, which seems to have done its homework, pointed to this, saying: “third party websites selling gaming accounts and rare items are commonplace and easy to find on places such as eBay across the internet.”

A recent parliamentary report called for loot boxes to be regulated under gambling law, along with a ban on loot boxes being sold to children.

The report also called for:

The gaming industry to face up to responsibilities to protect players from potential harms

An industry levy to support independent research on long-term effects of gaming

Serious concern at the lack of an effective system to keep children off age-restricted platforms and games

Dr Henrietta Bowden-Jones, psychiatrist and founder of CNWL’s National Problem Gambling Clinic said: “As the Director of the National Centre for Gaming Disorders, the first NHS clinic to treat gaming addiction, I am fully in favour of taking a public health approach and bringing in a regulatory body to oversee the gaming industry products currently causing great concerns to parents and professionals. Loot boxes are only one of several features that will need to be investigated and indeed researched. We need an evidence-based approach to ensure our young people and gamers in general do not continue to be subjected to new and increasingly harmful products without our intervention.