Over three programmes, Jolyon Jenkins explores whether children are being enticed into gambling through video game "loot boxes", and how an apparently harmless bit of fun has links that stretch all the way across the world and involve a small Caribbean island which has seen gambling-related murder and high level corruption.

Loot boxes are a feature of games in which you pay to open random packs or crates of virtual items, some of which are rare and desirable. In some cases, these items can be traded for cash, either on the manufacturer’s own platform or through third party sites. Because the virtual items are kind of virtual parallel currency, they represent an easy way for children to gamble, and in some cases children have lost large sums. We also see a proliferation of straight up gambling sites that use virtual items interchangeably with cryptocurrency, and with no age verification checks.

But there is also evidence that, even where the virtual items cannot be “cashed out”, the experience of buying loot boxes is associated with problem gambling. This evidence suggests that either games companies are causing people (largely children) to get a problem gambling habit, or those who already have a problem with gambling are being drawn to video games where their habit is fed. The UK Gambling Commission doesn’t consider loot boxes to be covered by gambling law. But is this the wrong question? Maybe the issue is not whether loot boxes are technically gambling, but if they are causing harm.

Presenter/Producer: Jolyon Jenkins