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Even before Electronic Arts' recent Star Wars Battlefront II video game launched on November 17, there was a huge controversy rising out of its release.

Players of its early access demo reported that the state of the game's purchasable loot boxes effectively made it a 'pay-to-win' experience, with the outrage that followed eventually leading to EA temporarily removing all in-game purchases .

Other reports have followed of so-called "skin betting" where children as young as 11 have used third-party websites to attempt to trade the in-game items for real-world cash.

The debate has roared on, with politicians even beginning to enter the fray. Belgium's Minister of Justice called the mix of gaming and gambling 'dangerous' after Belgium's Gaming Commission opened an investigation .

Hawaii State Representative Chris Lee announced action to address 'predatory practices at Electronic Arts and other companies', saying of Battlefront II that 'we shouldn't allow Star Wars to encourage kids to gamble'.

A French senator penned a letter to the gambling authority in response to the game, saying that it could be seen as gambling.

Earlier this year, the UK government responded to an online petition calling for the loot box system used by Battlefront II to face increased regulation to prevent children from gambling.

Of course, many of you may be asking what loot boxes are, and how they may affect you or your children while playing video games.

Here's what you need to know.

What are loot boxes?

Loot boxes are virtual in-game items that can be bought with real-life money by registering your bank account details to your gaming platform of choice.

Purchasing loot boxes will reward you with a randomised selection of in-game content, which can range from cosmetic-only content, like new outfits for a player's character, to game-changing content like more powerful weapons and items.

Some of these rewards may be rare, useful and much-sought after, while others may be incredibly common and useless. You could end up spending £10 and get exactly what you're after, or spend £1,000 and have nothing worthwhile.

In some games, these rewards can be traded or sold for in-game currency, while in others you're stuck with them.

For certain games such as Counter-Strike: Global Offense (CS:GO), there are external real-world marketplace sites like Loot Market , where players can sell their unwanted virtual goods, with some items going for as much as £1,206.

Are loot boxes a form of gambling?

This 'feature' popped up in video games as early as 2007, but has been popularised with the success of last year's Overwatch. Loot boxes appear in free-to-play games as well as full-priced games.

Currently, there's no age restriction or warning on video games featuring loot box microtransactions. Star Wars Battlefront II currently has a PEGI age rating of 16 on its box, but there's no warning anywhere on the box mentioning its inclusion of loot boxes.

While loot boxes are currently regulated under gambling law in some Asian countries, there's no such regulation here in the UK or in much of the Western world. As well as being seen as an anti-consumer practice when included in full-priced games, they're debatably a form of unregulated gambling- although not yet legally considered as such.

Due to the nature of Star Wars Battlefront II's loot boxes, which were criticised for giving players who paid an advantage due to the sheer amount of time it'd take to earn the weapons, the game has ended up being something of a scapegoat.

It was also heavily criticised for its decision to allow players to pay to unlock characters, such as Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, Darth Vader, and Chewbacca, whereas doing so through in-game progression could take days.

What about 'skin betting'?

Skin betting is less well-known but still a form of video game gambling.

It involves players (often children) attempting to gamble in-game weapons, costumes or characters (known as skins) either for real-world cash or for other, more powerful, skins. Third-party websites exist to feed the demand, which can quickly spiral into a habit.

Sarah Harrison, chief executive of the Gambling Commission, told the BBC: "Because of these unlicensed skin betting sites, the safeguards that exist are not being applied and we're seeing examples of really young people, 11 and 12-year-olds, who are getting involved in skin betting, not realising that it's gambling.

"At one level they are running up bills perhaps on their parents' Paypal account or credit card, but the wider effect is the introduction and normalisation of this kind of gambling among children and young people."

Is Star Wars Battlefront II the worst offender?

(Image: ea.com)

Although Star Wars Battlefront II is certainly the worst recent example of loot boxes, it's by no means the root of the problem. While it's understandable to use it as a scapegoat, it's important to take a look at the damage that loot boxes can cause as a whole.

It should be obvious to most just by reading a description of the monetisation method that loot boxes could certainly be classified as a form of gambling, by it's the way that they're ingrained in video games that really causes harm.

In-app purchases, better known as microtransactions, have long been the go-to monetisation method of mobile games, with the feature finding its way to console and PC games in more recent years.

Online video games with any form of in-app purchases, including loot boxes, obviously want to encourage players to spend as much as possible. Whether it rewards players with a gameplay advantage or a shiny new outfit that will make other players jealous, the effect is the same.

Players that already have poor impulse control or addictive natures are mostly at risk here, with the carrot dangled in front of them at every given opportunity. Though the majority of players may be able to avoid purchasing the predatory loot boxes, the more vulnerable will have more difficulty in doing so.

The recent Call of Duty: WWII game even has players open their purchased loot boxes in front of other active players after they drop from the sky onto the beaches of Normandy, which encourages them to purchase content themselves when they see someone earn a rare reward.

Should loot boxes be banned?

(Image: Activision)

The psychology at play here is why games with 'cosmetic-only' rewards, like the far less criticised Overwatch, should not be exempt from the criticism that Star Wars Battlefront II is facing - even when the loot can be obtained without paying.

Though defenders will claim the video game industry needs the profits of loot boxes to remain sustainable due to increased budgets, I'd argue that we should not allow unethical practices for the sake of profitability.

If the industry really does have a profitability problem, a better solution should be found, like a less damaging monetisation model (in-game advertisements, for example), lower budgets, or the rise of video game prices.

Loot boxes should be banned in the UK - or in the very least, properly regulated like any other form of gambling, given appropriate age restrictions, and clearly display the percentage chances of its rewards.