I think loot boxes, gacha games, those “capsule machines” you put money into which then dispense a random toy (which are actually the origin of the term “gacha”, #funfact), etc are all predatory to various extents. Not to mention the variation in their implementation in any given game being more or less predatory. That doesn’t mean they should be regulated as “gambling” however. Maybe we should pass regulations barring corporations from exploiting known and documented mental “loopholes” like FOMO and burying the odds of getting a prize under a mountain of boilerplate text hoping most won’t bother to see how bad a deal they’re actually getting. Or any number of these exploits built into our brains that these parasites have spent billions mapping out and figuring out how best to exploit. I’d be all for an honest attempt at that. But just saying “it’s gambling!” As if that’s an argument is not just weak but demonstrably a legally invalid argument.

Edit: for example, didn’t someone sue companies like Microsoft, Sony, Nintendo, etc for selling “points” in values designed to always make you have some leftover (but not enough to actually buy an item, thus ensuring you feel “tied” to the system and keep buying things through it)? I don’t think it was a government regulation, but it clearly led to all of these companies just getting rid of the abusive “points” systems and start just allowing people to directly purchase whatever they wanted in their local currency.

I think loot boxes, gacha games, those “capsule machines” you put money into which then dispense a random toy (which are actually the origin of the term “gacha”, #funfact), etc are all predatory to various extents. Not to mention the variation in their implementation in any given game being more or less predatory. That doesn’t mean they should be regulated as “gambling” however. Maybe we should pass regulations barring corporations from exploiting known and documented mental “loopholes” like FOMO and burying the odds of getting a prize under a mountain of boilerplate text hoping most won’t bother to see how bad a deal they’re actually getting. Or any number of these exploits built into our brains that these parasites have spent billions mapping out and figuring out how best to exploit. I’d be all for an honest attempt at that. But just saying “it’s gambling!” As if that’s an argument is not just weak but demonstrably a legally invalid argument.