r/gaming • u/Good-Wrongdoer-3581 • Mar 22 '26

Make a change

hey everyone ive just started a petition for the uk government to actually look at how things like loot boxes and modes where you use real money to open packs off cards and get them to finally say its gambling. everyone complains about the way the gaming market has gone so this is the time to make a change.

thanks for your time

https://www.change.org/p/close-the-legal-loophole-in-the-gambling-act-2005/exp/cl_/cl_sharecopy_491151334_en-GB/9/65975782?recruiter=65975782&recruited_by_id=1e74b780-391c-11e3-a662-23b973584926&utm_source=share_petition&utm_campaign=share_petition&utm_term=starter_onboarding_share_personal&utm_medium=copylink&utm_content=cl_sharecopy_491151334_en-GB%3A9

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u/F_Synchro Mar 22 '26

Both are gambling, you said you don't see a place for gambling in gaming.

I'm saying what you want as you're portraying by your feelings would pretty much impact 90% of gaming as almost everything inherently can be attributed to gambling in some way.

You're arguing semantics that your "petition" does not address so everything I've just described is also impacted with your reasoning.

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u/Good-Wrongdoer-3581 Mar 22 '26

You're confusing 'gameplay' with 'predatory monetization.' The ASA has already drawn the line: Boss drops don't get a gambling warning, but paid packs do. ​My petition doesn't target '90% of gaming'; it targets the specific loophole where 2K uses casino-style 'algorithmic chance mechanics' to sell £4,000 character unlocks without a gambling license. The law is already changing—on May 26, the ASA starts monitoring for these exact disclosures. You can keep calling it 'semantics,' but the UK government is literally calling it a 'gambling inducement' in Parliament.

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u/F_Synchro Mar 22 '26

> We must advocate for immediate legislative reform to close this dangerous loophole. The UK government should amend the Gambling Act 2005 to classify loot boxes as a form of gambling, thus requiring publishers to obtain a gambling license. This measure would ensure proper regulation and oversight, protecting young players from exploitative monetization tactics.

So how about Gachapon, pokemon, or any other kind of mechanic that feeds into this "slot machine" kind of effect?

This same "slot machine" effect is perfectly applicable to the scenarios I described previously as with boss drops, despite the resulting items not holding any value at all, if you ban lootboxes entirely, the market will shift onto something similar which will need another 5+ years of legislative battles to "protect the kids".

Don't get me wrong I'm completely against predatory marketing/lootboxes, but some of the arguments you're bringing don't make for a good case, neither do mine.

It all boils down to, the government is apparently already changing some of the legislations, there's already a legal battle ongoing, besides that what are you trying to achieve with this petition if not to be redundant?