Fair Play or Foul Play?
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Children are increasingly engaging with a videogame environment where lootboxes – and more broadly speaking random reward mechanisms – are integrated into videogame design as a means to obtain various in-game rewards. Taking into account the developing body of academic research establishing correlations between lootbox engagement and gambling-related risks, as well as research on behavioural design techniques used to optimise player engagement, this article aims to analyse the regulation of lootboxes from a children’s rights perspective. Focusing on the child’s right to play and right to be protected against economic exploitation, the article explores how lootboxes are integrated into contemporary videogames and subsequently how the related design choices may impact the rights of the child. Especially considering the recent regulatory attention directed at lootboxes, this article aims to provide insights into how policymakers around the world can use the children’s rights framework to interpret and give shape to the (future) regulation of lootboxes.
Author: Pieterjan Declerck
Institution: Ghent University
Language: English
Topic: Digital Games and Media
Subfield: Sociology and Political Science
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W4408868156