The United States Federal Trade Commission has agreed to begin an investigation into video game loot boxes, the controversial digital packages players can buy that contain mystery in-game items, and their link to gambling.

The FTC chairman Joseph Simon told the United States Congressional Oversight Committee that his agency would look into the matter and report back its findings.

The pledge was in response to an official request by Democratic Senator Maggie Hassan, who said that loot boxes were now ‘endemic’ in the games industry and ‘present in everything from casual smart phone games to the newest, high budget releases.’

Hassan warned that loot boxes have ‘a close link’ to gambling and said that children were ‘particularly susceptible’ to the in-game purchases.

The Senator also referenced the recent Young People and Gambling report by the UK Gambling Commission that said 31pc of the children surveyed had opened a loot box in a video game.

The Commission added that the number of problem gamblers aged between 11 and 16 has reached 55,000, with a further 70,000 at risk and 450,000 children said to bet regularly.