Members of the Washington State Senate demanded to deal with the loot boxes
In the United States, three members of the Washington State Senate sent a request to the local Gambling Commission (WSGC) demanding to investigate whether loot boxes in video games violate state laws.
The document called SB 6266 was prepared by Senators Kevin Ranker, Reuven Carlyle and Karen Keiser. In the state government, they represent the committees responsible for education, energy, workers’ rights and trade.
Officials want to figure out the following:
- does the mechanics of loot boxes fall under the gambling laws of the state of Washington;
- in which games and applications does it occur;
- should children and adolescents have open access to these programs, given the potential vulnerability of young citizens to gambling addiction;
- is there a concealment of the chances of obtaining each type of virtual item.
If the document is approved in the Washington Senate, the gambling commission will have to prepare a response by December 1 of this year.
The senators also asked the WSGC to formulate recommendations on regulating the distribution of video games with loot boxes and similar monetization mechanics.
In 2016, Valve, on the instructions of the WSGC, began fighting sites that play weapon skins for Counter-Strike: Global Offensive on the casino principle.
Washington is the second US state whose authorities have thought about the need to regulate loot boxes. Before them, this problem was raised by a member of the Hawaii state Congress, Chris Lee.
In Europe, the regulatory authorities of Belgium and Great Britain conducted their investigations into the essence of loot boxes.
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