Loot Boxes May Fall under Sweden's New Gambling Laws
Sweden is preparing a new law on gambling regulation. In addition to online casinos, it can also affect video games. The country’s authorities allowed the inclusion of loot boxes in the wording of the law.
The legal document will come into force in 2019.
This was announced by the Minister of Civil Affairs of Sweden Ardalan Shekarabi (Ardalan Shekarabi).
“I am ready to appeal to our authorities with a request to consider the phenomenon of loot boxes and find out whether there is a need to change legislation to improve consumer protection,” Shekarabi said.
The revision of the legislation is related to the proliferation of online casinos and gambling sites that violate Sweden’s state monopoly on gambling control. Currently, the laws of the country do not apply to in-game mechanics similar to lotteries and other types of gambling.
The official representative of the Swedish gaming industry, Per Strombäck, said that loot boxes could theoretically be affected by the new law, but loot boxes are not the main goal, and amendments to the legislation are being introduced to combat real online casinos.
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