Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment his Department has made of the impact on users of video games that contain gambling-like practices and are not currently regulated by gambling regulation.

Ensuring that video games are enjoyed safely by people is a priority for this government and we remain committed to tackling issues relating to safety and video games.

This is why the Government launched a call for evidence in September 2020 specifically looking at issues and concerns around loot boxes and potential associations with gambling-related harms. The call for evidence closed in November 2020 and received more than 30,000 responses. The call for evidence sought detailed information on the impact of loot boxes on players, particularly children and young people, and evidence of potential harms. We are currently assessing the evidence gathered.

The Government will be publishing its response to the call for evidence in the coming months. The Government stands ready to take action should the findings from the call for evidence support taking further measures to ensure players are protected.