ESRB Says Loot Boxes Cannot be Classified as Gambling

Loot boxes have been a hot topic this week with players taking to social media and forums to express their distrust with the mechanic’s inclusion in Middle Earth: Shadow of War, Forza Motorsport 7, and Star Wars Battlefront 2. After Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor received a “gambling” tag on Steam earlier this week, it seemed timely that the Entertainment Software Ratings Board (ESRB) released a statement determining that having a loot box mechanic in a game does not constitute gambling. Their reasoning is that loot boxes have “guaranteed value” for the player, and thus are not gambling in the strictest definition of the word. This is a big deal, as any games determined to be a form of gambling are instantly assigned an Adults Only (AO) rating from the board which can be a severe detriment to sales.