Basis for regulating gambling elements in video games
Vol.16,No.31(2025)
Review of Law and Technology
This article provides an analysis of the phenomenon known as the gambling elements of video games and provides a background for their legal regulation. These gambling-like mechanics are now a common feature in the game design of countless games, most of which are accessible to minors, although manipulative commercial practices are often used in the context of these features, making them addictive and involving the risk of significant financial loss. At the same time, however, no comprehensive legislation has yet been adopted to effectively regulate this problematic game design. As will be explained in the article, this issue arises mainly from the lack of a coherent definition of gambling elements and the inconsistent conclusion on their connection to gambling. This article therefore focuses in particular on the definition and subsequent legal qualification of these gambling elements and presents a discussion on the appropriate approach to their legal regulation, the necessity of which arises particularly in the context of the practical ineffectiveness of industry self-regulation.
Video games; gambling; gambling elements; loot boxes; monetization of video games; Dark Patterns; consumer protection; industry self-regulation; game design
s. 187–244
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Copyright © 2025 Ondřej Böhm