Non-compliance with and non-enforcement of UK loot box industry self-regulation on the Apple App Store: a longitudinal study on poor implementation
Loot boxes in video games can be purchased with real-world money in exchange for random rewards. Stakeholders are concerned about loot boxes’ similarities to gambling and their potential harms (e.g. overspending money and developing gambling problems). The previous Conservative UK Government decided...
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The Royal Society
2025-05-01
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| Series: | Royal Society Open Science |
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| Online Access: | https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsos.250704 |
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| author | Leon Y. Xiao Mie Lange Lund |
| author_facet | Leon Y. Xiao Mie Lange Lund |
| author_sort | Leon Y. Xiao |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Loot boxes in video games can be purchased with real-world money in exchange for random rewards. Stakeholders are concerned about loot boxes’ similarities to gambling and their potential harms (e.g. overspending money and developing gambling problems). The previous Conservative UK Government decided to first try relying on industry self-regulation to address the issue, rather than to impose legislation. These self-regulations have since been published by the industry trade body, Ukie (UK Interactive Entertainment). Responding to many stakeholders’ desires for a transparent and independent assessment of their implementation, we assessed companies’ compliance with three empirically testable measures and also whether the rules were actively enforced. The 100 highest-grossing iPhone games were longitudinally examined both prior to the self-regulations coming into effect on 18 July 2024 (i.e. between January and June 2024) and after to check for potential improvement (i.e. between July and December 2024). Disappointingly, widespread non-compliance and non-enforcement were observed. Among games with loot boxes, none (0.0%) sought to obtain explicit parental consent prior to enabling loot box purchasing by under-18s. Only 23.5% disclosed loot box presence, and the few disclosures were all visually obscured and difficult to access. A mere 8.6% consistently disclosed the probabilities of obtaining different rewards for all loot boxes found. The rules were not enforced, contrary to Ukie’s promise: all of the games that were non-compliant before the self-regulations came into effect remained non-compliant many months later, despite Ukie and the Apple App Store having been provided with evidence of the contraventions and put on notice to delist those games if remedial actions were not forthcoming. Because Ukie itself cannot enforce these self-regulations, platforms (e.g. app stores), the advertising regulator and the consumer protection regulators must better enforce pre-existing rules to ensure adequate consumer protection as already promised. Video games and loot boxes are no longer novel; laws that apply to all industries must also be enforced against this one. Governments are advised against relying on industry self-regulation, especially after repeated demonstrations of its many failings. Stricter legal regulation of loot boxes should be adopted. Preregistered Stage 1 protocol: https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/3KNYB (date of in-principle acceptance: 25 March 2024). |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-52e7028da9474d0c8ba75510f660d41e |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2054-5703 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-05-01 |
| publisher | The Royal Society |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Royal Society Open Science |
| spelling | doaj-art-52e7028da9474d0c8ba75510f660d41e2025-08-20T02:30:09ZengThe Royal SocietyRoyal Society Open Science2054-57032025-05-0112510.1098/rsos.250704Non-compliance with and non-enforcement of UK loot box industry self-regulation on the Apple App Store: a longitudinal study on poor implementationLeon Y. Xiao0Mie Lange Lund1School of Creative Media, City University of Hong Kong, Hong KongIndependent Researcher, Odense, DenmarkLoot boxes in video games can be purchased with real-world money in exchange for random rewards. Stakeholders are concerned about loot boxes’ similarities to gambling and their potential harms (e.g. overspending money and developing gambling problems). The previous Conservative UK Government decided to first try relying on industry self-regulation to address the issue, rather than to impose legislation. These self-regulations have since been published by the industry trade body, Ukie (UK Interactive Entertainment). Responding to many stakeholders’ desires for a transparent and independent assessment of their implementation, we assessed companies’ compliance with three empirically testable measures and also whether the rules were actively enforced. The 100 highest-grossing iPhone games were longitudinally examined both prior to the self-regulations coming into effect on 18 July 2024 (i.e. between January and June 2024) and after to check for potential improvement (i.e. between July and December 2024). Disappointingly, widespread non-compliance and non-enforcement were observed. Among games with loot boxes, none (0.0%) sought to obtain explicit parental consent prior to enabling loot box purchasing by under-18s. Only 23.5% disclosed loot box presence, and the few disclosures were all visually obscured and difficult to access. A mere 8.6% consistently disclosed the probabilities of obtaining different rewards for all loot boxes found. The rules were not enforced, contrary to Ukie’s promise: all of the games that were non-compliant before the self-regulations came into effect remained non-compliant many months later, despite Ukie and the Apple App Store having been provided with evidence of the contraventions and put on notice to delist those games if remedial actions were not forthcoming. Because Ukie itself cannot enforce these self-regulations, platforms (e.g. app stores), the advertising regulator and the consumer protection regulators must better enforce pre-existing rules to ensure adequate consumer protection as already promised. Video games and loot boxes are no longer novel; laws that apply to all industries must also be enforced against this one. Governments are advised against relying on industry self-regulation, especially after repeated demonstrations of its many failings. Stricter legal regulation of loot boxes should be adopted. Preregistered Stage 1 protocol: https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/3KNYB (date of in-principle acceptance: 25 March 2024).https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsos.250704loot boxesvideo gamesindustry self-regulationconsumer protectioninformation disclosurevideo gaming regulation |
| spellingShingle | Leon Y. Xiao Mie Lange Lund Non-compliance with and non-enforcement of UK loot box industry self-regulation on the Apple App Store: a longitudinal study on poor implementation Royal Society Open Science loot boxes video games industry self-regulation consumer protection information disclosure video gaming regulation |
| title | Non-compliance with and non-enforcement of UK loot box industry self-regulation on the Apple App Store: a longitudinal study on poor implementation |
| title_full | Non-compliance with and non-enforcement of UK loot box industry self-regulation on the Apple App Store: a longitudinal study on poor implementation |
| title_fullStr | Non-compliance with and non-enforcement of UK loot box industry self-regulation on the Apple App Store: a longitudinal study on poor implementation |
| title_full_unstemmed | Non-compliance with and non-enforcement of UK loot box industry self-regulation on the Apple App Store: a longitudinal study on poor implementation |
| title_short | Non-compliance with and non-enforcement of UK loot box industry self-regulation on the Apple App Store: a longitudinal study on poor implementation |
| title_sort | non compliance with and non enforcement of uk loot box industry self regulation on the apple app store a longitudinal study on poor implementation |
| topic | loot boxes video games industry self-regulation consumer protection information disclosure video gaming regulation |
| url | https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsos.250704 |
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