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

To ask His Majesty's Government, following the recent breach of the Advertising Standards Authority codes by DCMS Technical Working Group members Electronic Arts, Jagex, and Hutch Games, what steps they are taking to (1) evaluate, and (2) ensure compliance with, industry-led principles and guidance on the use of paid loot boxes in computer games.

Following our response to the call for evidence on loot boxes in video games, HM Government has welcomed new industry-led guidance to improve protections for all players, including young people.

Measures to protect players should ensure that the purchase of loot boxes is unavailable to all children and young people unless enabled by a parent or guardian, and that all players have access to, and can be aware of, spending controls and transparent information to support safe and responsible playing of games.

We are working closely with the industry and academia to support independent scrutiny of these new measures. The Government has agreed a 12-month implementation period and has asked the industry, co-ordinated by Ukie, to report back to DCMS on the extent to which the new measures have been implemented.

We will continue to keep our position on possible future legislative options under review, informed by academic scrutiny of the industry-led guidance. We will provide a further update following the 12-month implementation period.