The South China Morning Post SCMP raises awareness of concerns around #LootBoxes and other gambling-like products and calls for further research: www.scmp.com/news/hong-ko....

An ad for Borderlands 4 on a bus was NOT required to disclose the presence of in-game purchases, due to specific circumstances, per the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA): www.asa.org.uk/rulings/take....

Abstract submissions for the Gam(bl)ing conference are flooding in. Don't forget to submit yours before the 26 June deadline this Friday (we won't check until after the weekend... 😉): tinyurl.com/thegamblings...!

All major video game companies ordered to pay between US$1–10 million in Brazil “in damages for collective moral harm” caused by loot boxes: timesbrasil.com.br/brasil/judic.... 🇧🇷

Justiça condena Apple, Google e Tencent a pagar R$ 298 milhões por sorteios pagos em jogos infantis - Times Brasil | CNBC

Justiça do DF condena big techs e empresas de games a R$ 298 mi por loot boxes em jogos acessados por crianças e adolescentes no Brasil

timesbrasil.com.br

Delighted to share the visuals and mascot, a cute little mimic monster we've named Looty, for the upcoming Gam(bl)ing Conference (28–29 September 2026) in Hong Kong focusing on the convergence between video games and gambling.

Our global review of studies that evaluated the impact of gambling regulatory policies found that legalisation increased gambling participation and harm and did not effectively reduce illegal gambling: doi.org/10.1007/s404....

Global Review of Assessments of Online Gambling Policies Affecting Youths: Bans, Legalisation, Advertising Restrictions, and ‘Responsible Gambling’ - Current Addiction Reports

Purpose of Review Online gambling regulation has become more permissive in many regions, particularly in Western countries, and stakeholders are concerned about young people (aged ≤ 25) and other vulnerable consumers experiencing harm. Some regions continue to maintain an online gambling ban, whilst others have adopted regulatory policies with a focus on consumer protection and harm minimization. Following a systematic search strategy, we reviewed empirical evaluations of international gambling policies to better understand their implementation and possible impact. Recent Findings Legalization leads to increased gambling participation and harm and has limited impact on reducing participation in illegal gambling. Bans on online gambling are difficult, if not impossible, to enforce. So-called ‘responsible gambling’ interventions have limited or no impact on behavior, even though they are widely touted by industry interests. Policies specifically impacting youths focus on preventing underage gambling access. However, young people manage to circumvent these restrictions. Insufficiently regulated gambling advertising is shown frequently to children, including through sports sponsorship. Summary We cannot recommend any gambling regulatory approach as being obviously better than its alternatives based on current evidence. Empirical evaluations of the gambling policies of many other countries have either never been conducted or never been reported in English. A policy that works in one country might not work as well in a different cultural context. More research is needed, and governments that have legalized gambling should impose a levy on gambling revenue to fund healthcare and independent scientific investigations to address and hopefully reduce harm.

doi.org

The Netherlands prohibits gambling advertising from targeting young people aged under 24. Using Meta’s ad library, we found a minority of ads published by both online (7.3%) and offline (29.8%) Dutch gambling licensees broke this rule: doi.org/10.1556/2006.... 🇳🇱🎰

A significant minority of Dutch gambling adverts on social media illegally targeted and likely reached under-24s: Assessing compliance using Meta's advertising repository mandated by the EU Digital Se...

Abstract Background and aims Many countries have legalised gambling, negatively impacting public health. Stakeholders are particularly concerned about online gambling advertising harming young adults....

doi.org

Gambling ads reached 2.3 times more men than women in Ireland, even though most ads were not set to target men specifically. 🎰🇮🇪 doi.org/10.1556/2006...

Chinese DiGRA 2026 Call for Papers: Chinese Game Studies: Publishing, Platforms, and Player Cultures: 19–20 September, Wuhan; 15 May deadline A wide range of game studies topics relating to China are welcome! chinesedigra.org/call-for-pap...

The Abstract Proceedings of Chinese DiGRA 2025: Video Games in Museums have been archived in the DiGRA Digital Library: dl.digra.org/index.php/dl...! We're working on the previous editions too.

We'll host a conference on the convergence between videogames and gambling in late September 2026 in Hong Kong. 🇭🇰🇨🇳 Call for papers: tinyurl.com/thegamblingcfp Let’s think “outside of the loot box.” Abstract deadline: 26 June 2026 Results notification: 20 July 2026 Conference: 28–29 September 2026

My reactions to how PEGI will rate games with hashtag#LootBoxes 16+ from June 2026. Nice, but 99% of games won't be affected because the rule only applies to newly released games. www.gamesindustry.biz/pegis-loot-b...

PEGI's loot box rule changes are welcome, but they should be retrospective | Opinion

Because the rule only applies to new titles, the biggest and most popular games with loot boxes will escape being subject to PEGI's higher age rating

gamesindustry.biz

We’re recruiting a postdoc and up to 3 research assistants at the Creative Media Policy Observatory (www.cmpo.net), City University of Hong Kong. Apply for the RA position: www.cityu.edu.hk/hro/en/job/c... Apply for the postdoc position: www.cityu.edu.hk/hro/en/job/c...

New York 🇺🇸 Attorney General Letitia James just sued Valve corporation for promoting ILLEGAL gambling through the hashtag#LootBoxes of its Steam games. Currently parsing through the 52-page complaint… Press release: ag.ny.gov/press-releas... Complaint: ag.ny.gov/sites/defaul...

Earlier this month, in the Singaporean Parliament 🇸🇬, Dennis Lip Fong TAN 陈立峰 asked the Government about any plans to require probability disclosures for #BlindBoxes and #Gacha. www.mha.gov.sg/media-room/n...

Held our first conference! #GachaCon2026 focused on Genshin Impact, spanning #GameStudies research on storytelling, world building, player communities, gender, the Chinese industry, game design, psychology, monetisation, regulation, and beyond.

We look forward to welcoming you to City University of Hong Kong!

History of Games Conference@historyofgames.bsky.social · 6mo ago

And our CfP is out! History of Games 2026: The Ages of Games. Epochs and Periodisations 25-27th June, City University of Hong Kong, School of Creative www.history-of-games.com/2026-hong-ko... Please share and hope to see you there!

Please do apply and encourage early career researchers around you to give it a go! That extra push and assurance might be all it takes.

Society for the Study of Addiction@addiction-ssa.org · 6mo ago

Applications are now open for two prestigious prizes. These celebrate researchers who have made significant contributions to the field of addiction, who practice exceptional science communication, and who share the SSA’s mission. Apply by 28 February tinyurl.com/4v5fve9m

I just had sight of the Austrian Supreme Court judgment 🇦🇹 (6 Ob 228/24h) deciding that FIFA #LootBoxes do NOT constitute illegal gambling and so demands for refunds by players are unjustified. The judgment is dated 18 December 2025 and may be published soon via: tinyurl.com/49c2hx35.

R v Lakeman [2026] EWCA Crim 4 (www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWC...) just decided that "Gold Pieces," a premium virtual currency in Old School Runescape by Jagex, are "property" that can be stolen under UK criminal law.

The Italian regulator 🇮🇹 acted against Activision Blizzard and Electronic Arts back in 2019/2020: www.liebertpub.com/doi/10.1089/..., requiring loot box presence and probability disclosures, etc. However, nothing since… Until now!

GamesIndustry.biz@gibiz.bsky.social · 7mo ago

The Italian Competition Authority is investigating Activision Blizzard over Diablo Immortal and Call of Duty Mobile monetisation; it has concerns over the alleged use of deceptive UI elements to encourage players to spend more time and money in the games www.gamesindustry.biz/italian-comp...

Shortly after the UK @houseoflords.parliament.uk debate on #LootBoxes (see: lnkd.in/gTMy7qH3), the @houseofcommons.parliament.uk also debated gambling harms in relation to children and young people in Westminster Hall.

The UK @houseoflords.parliament.uk just debated #LootBoxes: parliamentlive.tv/Event/Index/.... Nothing new. The Government failed to address the question put and the evidence that industry self-regulation is obviously not working. Instead, the Government continues to refer to forthcoming research.

Parliamentlive.tv

House of Lords

parliamentlive.tv

As announced last year, paid loot boxes are now back in Fortnite as a potential part of any third-party content, if that creator would like to implement them: www.gamesradar.com/games/fortni....

Fortnite now allows in-game purchases in user-generated Creative maps, including for randomized items, with Steal the Brainrot charging at least $37 for a loot box bundle

Players aren't happy about the change, safe to say

gamesradar.com

Happy as a clam to have reeled in @jacksonwryan.com to trawl the internet for fishy Latin phrases landing in academic journals due, I suspect, to GenAI use with a malfunctioning Chinese model. 🐟🤖

Jack Ryan 🙏🧪@jacksonwryan.com · 7mo ago

🧪 Here's a science mystery to start the year. Why are species names for fish and plants appearing in the scientific literature in papers about firefighter injuries, hearing loss and heart attack? Is it AI? Translation tools? Something else? nobreakthroughs.substack.com/p/is-this-fi...

On Thursday, 15 January 2026, the UK @houseoflords.parliament.uk will debate the implementation of protection for children from #LootBoxes and in-game purchases further to a question posed by Lord Butler of Brockwell. Watch online (I expect around noon?): parliamentlive.tv/Event/Index/...

Parliamentlive.tv

House of Lords

parliamentlive.tv

GachaCon 2026 is just one month away (12–13 February)! Preliminary programme: docs.google.com/spreadsheets.... Want to bag some GachaCon merch? Register for attendance: forms.gle/Mjk9tRo9TTSW....

How are #LootBoxes regulated across the world? Here’s my new annual edition of the Loot Box State of Play via @gibiz.bsky.social: www.gamesindustry.biz/loot-box-sta.... 🌍🌏🌎

Loot Box State of Play 2025: a ban in Brazil, non-compliance in Australia, a worrying wait for UK legislation and more

Researcher Leon Y. Xiao delivers his annual rundown on lootbox legislation around the world, and how developers and publishers should respond

gamesindustry.biz

Long shot: can you help me reach a gerontology (ageing) expert? Thinking more and more about researching the experiences of older people playing video games, which is definitely understudied. Want to avoid reinventing the wheel.

A tale of two online posts about our impact on UK game advertising: www.asa.org.uk/rulings/hutc.... My LinkedIn post: 1k+ impressions (not bad!) YouTube Shorts by @baitybait.bsky.social with 717k subs: 163k views & 9.5k likes! Academia does need to think about other channels to reach the public!