The European Commission has published the draft Digital Fairness Act, which would replace the 2005 Unfair Commercial Practices Directive. The proposal requires disclosure of odds in paid loot boxes, bans such mechanics for minors and tightens requirements for influencers promoting gambling products.
Article 15 regulates paid 'variable reward systems': virtual items with random rewards or variable odds acquired through money or paid-for virtual currency. The definition covers loot boxes, wheels of fortune and collectible card packs. Traders must clearly and prominently disclose the types of items available and the probability of obtaining each before purchase. They must also provide consumers of any age with a tool to switch off such systems. The draft does not prescribe a specific technical design for the opt-out.
For minors, the restriction is stricter: paid random rewards may not be offered in products directed at children or where the trader knows with reasonable certainty that the product is being used by a child. The ban applies only to randomised rewards purchased with money or paid currency, not every random element in a game.
The Commission's explanatory recital notes that children may view influencers as friends and fail to recognise commercial recommendations. Influencers can exploit that trust by obscuring the commercial purpose of posts. The document explicitly names betting, lotteries, speculative instruments and other forms of gambling products among potentially harmful goods.
Felix Hilgert, a lawyer at Osborne Clarke, said the games industry generally does not consider loot boxes analogous to regulated gambling: there is no cash-out, and the buyer always receives a random item rather than an empty box.
The Digital Fairness Act remains a legislative proposal. It must be negotiated and adopted by the European Parliament and the Council. If passed in its current form, the regulation would apply 12 months after entering into force. A Swedish survey of 18–24-year-olds found that 87% of those who purchased loot boxes before age 15 displayed risky gambling behaviour as adults. Denmark has launched a campaign for parents about gambling-like mechanics in children's games.
