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1019268

	registered interest
	date	03/12/2018
	answering body	Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
	answering dept id	10
	answering dept short name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
	answering dept sort name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
	hansard heading	Gambling: Video Games
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans, if any, they have to conduct an investigation into the impact loot boxes in video games have on (1) underage gambling, and (2) instances of gambling related harm.
	tabling member printed	Lord Chadlington
	uin	HL11957
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/12/2018 answer text <p>Where gambling facilities are offered, operators must have a licence from the Gambling Commission and have controls in place to prevent underage gambling.</p><p> </p><p>Loot boxes do not fall under gambling law where the in-game items acquired are confined for use within the game and cannot be cashed out. However, the Government is aware of concerns that loot boxes and other entertainment products, such as some video games, could encourage gambling-like behaviour and longer term lead to gambling related harm, and will continue to look closely at any evidence around this issue. We welcome the recent introduction by the VSC Ratings Board and PEGI of a new label for video games to warn parents where they include the opportunity to make in-game purchases.</p><p> </p><p>In September 2018, the Gambling Commission, along with 16 other regulators from Europe and the USA signed a declaration which outlined common concerns around gaming and gambling. The regulators agreed to work together to monitor the characteristics of video games and social gaming and where there is potential cross-over into gambling.</p> answering member printed Viscount Younger of Leckie question first answered 17/12/2018 17:58:31 answering member 4169 label Biography information for Viscount Younger of Leckie
	tabling member	3318 label Biography information for Lord Chadlington

765703

	registered interest
	date	06/10/2017
	answering body	Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
	answering dept id	10
	answering dept short name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
	answering dept sort name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
	hansard heading	Gambling: Video Games
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she plans to take to help protect vulnerable adults and children from illegal gambling, in-game gambling and loot boxes within computer games.
	tabling member constituency	Cambridge
	tabling member printed	Daniel Zeichner
	uin	106043
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/10/2017 answer text <p>The Gambling Commission released a position paper in March 2017 detailing existing protections in place for in-game gambling, virtual currencies and loot boxes. The paper can be found on the Commission’s website at the following link: http://www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk/PDF/Virtual-currencies-eSports-and-social-casino-gaming.pdf</p><p> </p><p>Where items obtained in a computer game can be traded or exchanged outside the game platform they acquire a monetary value, and where facilities for gambling with such items are offered to consumers located in Britain a Gambling Commission licence is required. If no licence is held, the Commission uses a wide range of regulatory powers to take action.</p><p> </p><p>Protecting children and vulnerable people from being harmed or exploited by gambling is one of the core objectives of the regulation of gambling in Great Britain and a priority for the government. The Gambling Commission have a range of regulatory powers to take action where illegal gambling is taking place. Earlier this year the Gambling Commission successfully prosecuted the operators of a website providing illegal gambling facilities for in-game items which was accessible to children - the first regulator in the world to bring such an action.</p><p> </p><p>The government recognise the risks that come from increasing convergence between gambling and computer games. The Gambling Commission is keeping this matter under review and will continue to monitor developments in the market.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Chatham and Aylesford answering member printed Tracey Crouch grouped question UIN 106042 question first answered 16/10/2017 14:14:36 answering member 3950 label Biography information for Dame Tracey Crouch
	tabling member	4382 label Biography information for Daniel Zeichner

765704

	registered interest
	date	06/10/2017
	answering body	Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
	answering dept id	10
	answering dept short name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
	answering dept sort name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
	hansard heading	Gambling: Video Games
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment the Government has made of the effectiveness of the Isle of Man's enhanced protections against illegal and in-game gambling and loot boxes; and what discussions she has had with Cabinet colleagues on adopting such protections in the UK.
	tabling member constituency	Cambridge
	tabling member printed	Daniel Zeichner
	uin	106042
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/10/2017 answer text <p>The Gambling Commission released a position paper in March 2017 detailing existing protections in place for in-game gambling, virtual currencies and loot boxes. The paper can be found on the Commission’s website at the following link: http://www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk/PDF/Virtual-currencies-eSports-and-social-casino-gaming.pdf</p><p> </p><p>Where items obtained in a computer game can be traded or exchanged outside the game platform they acquire a monetary value, and where facilities for gambling with such items are offered to consumers located in Britain a Gambling Commission licence is required. If no licence is held, the Commission uses a wide range of regulatory powers to take action.</p><p> </p><p>Protecting children and vulnerable people from being harmed or exploited by gambling is one of the core objectives of the regulation of gambling in Great Britain and a priority for the government. The Gambling Commission have a range of regulatory powers to take action where illegal gambling is taking place. Earlier this year the Gambling Commission successfully prosecuted the operators of a website providing illegal gambling facilities for in-game items which was accessible to children - the first regulator in the world to bring such an action.</p><p> </p><p>The government recognise the risks that come from increasing convergence between gambling and computer games. The Gambling Commission is keeping this matter under review and will continue to monitor developments in the market.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Chatham and Aylesford answering member printed Tracey Crouch grouped question UIN 106043 question first answered 16/10/2017 14:14:36 answering member 3950 label Biography information for Dame Tracey Crouch
	tabling member	4382 label Biography information for Daniel Zeichner

772085

	registered interest
	date	17/10/2017
	answering body	Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
	answering dept id	10
	answering dept short name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
	answering dept sort name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
	hansard heading	Gambling: Video Games
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 16 October 2017 to Question 106042, what discussions she has had with her Cabinet colleagues on adopting protections against illegal and in-game gambling and loot boxes.
	tabling member constituency	Cambridge
	tabling member printed	Daniel Zeichner
	uin	108321
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/10/2017 answer text <p>There are strong protections in place against operators of illegal gambling facilities, including within video games. All operators providing gambling services to consumers in Britain require a licence from the Gambling Commission and must adhere to strict requirements for the protection of children and the vulnerable. The Gambling Commission has also commissioned the Responsible Gambling Strategy Board to examine the wider relationship between children and gambling.</p><p>In addition, consumers are protected by the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008. This includes a requirement on businesses not to subject anyone to misleading or aggressive marketing practices, or, for example, direct exhortation to buy products, such as games content, including in-game purchases such as loot boxes. The government is committed to ensuring that consumers are properly protected and that children’s vulnerability and inexperience is not exploited by aggressive commercial practices.</p><p>The government’s Internet Safety Strategy sets out how the government will work with online platforms, game publishers and game developers, and with agencies such as the VSC Rating Board, to continue to improve online safety in games.</p><p>The government recognises the risks that come from increasing convergence between gambling and video games. The Gambling Commission is keeping this matter under review and will continue to monitor developments in the market.</p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Chatham and Aylesford answering member printed Tracey Crouch question first answered 25/10/2017 11:24:52 answering member 3950 label Biography information for Dame Tracey Crouch
	tabling member	4382 label Biography information for Daniel Zeichner

773122

	registered interest
	date	18/10/2017
	answering body	Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
	answering dept id	10
	answering dept short name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
	answering dept sort name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
	hansard heading	Gambling: Video Games
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if she will make an assessment of the trends in the level of gambling content in video games played by children; and if she will make a statement.
	tabling member constituency	Wansbeck
	tabling member printed	Ian Lavery
	uin	108398
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/10/2017 answer text <p>Protecting children and the vulnerable from being harmed or exploited by gambling is a core objective of the regulation of gambling in Great Britain, and a priority for the government.</p><p>The statutory regulator, the Gambling Commission, monitors the participation of children in gambling through a range of data sources including complaints, academic research, and the annual Young People and Gambling Survey, which in 2017 included specific questions in relation to video gaming. The results of the survey are due to be published soon. The Gambling Commission has also asked its expert advisors, the Responsible Gambling Strategy Board, to examine the wider relationship between children and gambling.</p><p>The Gambling Commission is engaging with the video games industry and with a wide variety of stakeholders, including child protection groups, to highlight the risks of gambling linked to video games to parents, consumers and the wider public. The government’s Internet Safety Strategy published on 11 October considers options for working with the online video games industry to improve video gaming safety</p><p>The government recognises the risks that come from increasing convergence between gambling and video games. The Gambling Commission is keeping this matter under review and will continue to monitor developments in the market.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Chatham and Aylesford answering member printed Tracey Crouch question first answered 26/10/2017 08:44:10 answering member 3950 label Biography information for Dame Tracey Crouch
	tabling member	4139 label Biography information for Ian Lavery

793096

	registered interest
	date	21/11/2017
	answering body	Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
	answering dept id	10
	answering dept short name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
	answering dept sort name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
	hansard heading	Gambling: Video Games
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 16 October to Question 106042, on gambling: video games, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of current legislation in protecting people against loot boxes within computer games.
	tabling member constituency	Denton and Reddish
	tabling member printed	Andrew Gwynne
	uin	114881
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/11/2017 answer text <p>Consumers of virtual items within video games are protected by the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008. This includes a requirement on businesses not to subject anyone to misleading or aggressive marketing practices, or, for example, direct exhortation to buy products, such as games content, including in-game purchases such as loot boxes. The government is committed to ensuring that consumers are properly protected and that children’s vulnerability and inexperience is not exploited by aggressive commercial practices.</p><p> </p><p>The government’s Internet Safety Strategy sets out how the government will work with online platforms, game publishers and game developers, and with agencies such as the VSC Rating Board, to continue to improve online safety in games.</p><p> </p><p>We recognise the risks that come from increasing convergence between gambling and video games. The Gambling Commission is keeping this matter under review and will continue to monitor developments in the market.</p> answering member constituency Chatham and Aylesford answering member printed Tracey Crouch question first answered 27/11/2017 15:05:45 answering member 3950 label Biography information for Dame Tracey Crouch
	tabling member	1506 label Biography information for Andrew Gwynne

1660542

	registered interest
	date	13/09/2023
	answering body	Department for Culture, Media and Sport
	answering dept id	217
	answering dept short name	Culture, Media and Sport
	answering dept sort name	Culture, Media and Sport
	hansard heading	Gambling: Video Games
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what recent discussions she has had with gaming industry on protection for young people against loot boxes in video games.
	tabling member constituency	Barnsley East
	tabling member printed	Stephanie Peacock
	uin	199467
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/09/2023 answer text <p>Since publication of the <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/loot-boxes-in-video-games-call-for-evidence/outcome/government-response-to-the-call-for-evidence-on-loot-boxes-in-video-games" target="_blank">government response to the call for evidence on loot boxes in video games</a> in July 2022, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has facilitated engagement between the games industry and players, parents, government departments, independent bodies, regulators, academics and other external organisations. The output of this work was new <a href="https://ukie.org.uk/loot-boxes" target="_blank">industry-led guidance</a> on loot boxes published by the industry trade body Ukie in July 2023, and a <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/video-games-research-framework/video-games-research-framework" target="_blank">Video Games Research Framework</a> published by DCMS in May 2023.</p><p>To support the development of industry-led guidance, DCMS convened a Technical Working Group with representatives of games companies and platforms. The Technical Working Group met eight times between September 2022 and June 2023, including a meeting chaired by the DCMS Secretary of State in June 2023.</p> answering member constituency Maldon answering member printed Sir John Whittingdale question first answered 19/09/2023 16:39:19 answering member 39 label Biography information for Sir John Whittingdale
	tabling member	4607 label Biography information for Stephanie Peacock

1675425

	registered interest
	date	05/12/2023
	answering body	Department for Culture, Media and Sport
	answering dept id	217
	answering dept short name	Culture, Media and Sport
	answering dept sort name	Culture, Media and Sport
	hansard heading	Gambling: Video Games
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to the guidance on Loot boxes in video games: update on improvements to industry-led protections, published by her Department on 18 July 2023, what steps she is taking to review the impact of these measures on protecting people from gambling harm.
	tabling member constituency	Sheffield Central
	tabling member printed	Paul Blomfield
	uin	5224
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/12/2023 answer text <p>Following the Government <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/loot-boxes-in-video-games-call-for-evidence/outcome/government-response-to-the-call-for-evidence-on-loot-boxes-in-video-games" target="_blank">response</a> to the call for evidence on loot boxes in video games, the Government has <a href="https://www.gov.uk/guidance/loot-boxes-in-video-games-update-on-improvements-to-industry-led-protections" target="_blank">welcomed</a> new industry-led guidance that aims to protect young people from gambling harm.</p><p>Measures to protect young people should ensure that the purchase of loot boxes should be unavailable to all children and young people unless enabled by a parent or guardian, and all players should have access to, and be aware of, spending controls and transparent information to support safe and responsible gameplay.</p><p>DCMS has published a <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/video-games-research-framework/video-games-research-framework" target="_blank">Video Games Research Framework</a> to support high quality independent research into video games, building understanding of the impact of video games, including loot boxes.</p><p>In parallel to the framework, we are now working closely with academics to ensure specific and robust evaluation of the implementation and efficacy of the new industry-led measures on loot boxes in meeting the government’s objectives. We will provide an update following a 12-month implementation period.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Maldon answering member printed Sir John Whittingdale question first answered 13/12/2023 09:02:12 answering member 39 label Biography information for Sir John Whittingdale
	tabling member	4058 label Biography information for Paul Blomfield

1147074

	registered interest
	date	30/09/2019
	answering body	Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
	answering dept id	10
	answering dept short name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
	answering dept sort name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
	hansard heading	Gambling: Video Games
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to support research into the effects of gambling-like mechanics in video games on (a) young and (b) vulnerable players of those games.
	tabling member constituency	Bolton South East
	tabling member printed	Yasmin Qureshi
	uin	292186
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/10/2019 answer text <p>The DCMS Select Committee’s report on Immersive and Addictive Technology was published on 12th September. It is critical of the games sector and makes a dozen recommendations for Government action.</p><p> </p><p>Most of the media coverage of the report focussed on the Select Committee’s recommendation that DCMS should change the Gambling Act to bring into scope the loot box mechanics that some games contain. The report also recommended that DCMS should work with researchers to identify key questions needed to develop research into the long term effects of (video) gaming and that DCMS should establish a scientific working group to collate the latest evidence on the effects of “gambling-like” mechanics in games.</p><p> </p><p>DCMS is leading on the Government response which has been requested by 11 November and officials are currently developing advice for ministers.</p><p> </p><p>The UK’s video games sector - and particularly a number of the large inward investors here - are alarmed at the tone of the Select Committee’s report and looking to Government to show it will take an evidence-based and proportionate approach in its response.</p><p> </p><p>Loot boxes do not fall under gambling law where the in-game items acquired are confined for use within the game and cannot be cashed out. However, the Gambling Commission is aware of possible areas of convergence between video games and gambling, and will continue to monitor this closely.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Selby and Ainsty answering member printed Nigel Adams question first answered 08/10/2019 14:21:11 answering member 4057 label Biography information for Nigel Adams
	tabling member	3924 label Biography information for Yasmin Qureshi

1151375

	registered interest
	date	22/10/2019
	answering body	Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
	answering dept id	10
	answering dept short name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
	answering dept sort name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
	hansard heading	Gambling: Video Games
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to prevent young people spending excessively on loot boxes in computer games.
	tabling member constituency	Coventry South
	tabling member printed	Mr Jim Cunningham
	uin	3532
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/10/2019 answer text <p>We are aware of concerns about the potential for excessive spending in games, particularly by young people. These concerns, and particularly those regarding the availability of loot boxes, are discussed in the recent DCMS Select Committee report on Immersive and Addictive Technologies. We are currently considering the Report and its recommendations and will respond in due course.</p><p> </p><p>We do not currently have an estimate of the amount spent by people under 18 on in-app or in-game purchases over the last 5 years. However, we note that the Gambling Commission’s new research on Children and Young People found that of the 11-16 year olds taking part in their survey, 52% had heard of the availability of in-game items and of these 44% had paid money to open loot boxes.</p><p> </p><p>We encourage parents concerned about in-game spending by their children to consider using the parental controls available on devices to disable this function.</p><p><br></p> answering member constituency Selby and Ainsty answering member printed Nigel Adams grouped question UIN 3533 question first answered 28/10/2019 16:37:08 answering member 4057 label Biography information for Nigel Adams
	tabling member	308 label Biography information for Mr Jim Cunningham