How UK Loot Box Regulations Are Reshaping the Landscape of Mobile Gaming
BBC analysis uncovers that the easiest two out of the top 45 Google Play titles do not adhere to ASA regulations
A significant number of popular Android games neglect to disclose that they feature loot boxes in UK advertisements, thereby breaching rules set by the Advertising Standards Authority.
This aligns with a report from the BBC, which examined advertisements for the top 45 highest-grossing games available on Google Play. The mention of loot boxes was present in the store descriptions for 26 of these games, and 22 of them were actively promoted at the time of the inquiry.
According to the BBC, advertisements for just two of these titles clearly indicated that loot boxes were present in the game.
The ASA’s regulations state that the existence of loot boxes must be revealed in any advertisements for games that include them, and this can lead to the prohibition or removal of ads that do not comply.
So far this year, the ASA has imposed several such prohibitions on ads run by EA, Miniclip, Jagex, Gamehaus, Huuuge Global, Mobee Co, SpinX, and Zeroo Gravity Games.
However, various experts informed the BBC that they do not believe the results