Lootbox Regulation: Experts Confirm WestLotto’s Call for a Round Table

August 29, 2023 | Responsible gaming

Münster, Germany (August 28, 2023) — On the way to regulating loot boxes, WestLotto is calling for concrete steps. “The discussion that something needs to be done has now been completed. We should now bring politicians and all stakeholders together with concrete regulatory proposals,” said Axel Weber, responsible for responsible gaming at WestLotto, at a webinar by the authority mirror entitled Loot boxes – solutions for separating entertainment and gambling .

WestLotto had already brought up the idea of a round table a few weeks ago – and repeated the call for a large exchange at the webinar. “The games industry shouldn’t withdraw from the discussion either,” explained Weber. Rather, a concrete look beyond gambling law would help. “We need a perspective ahead. For example, can the Youth Protection Act offer a solution?” said Axel Weber and continued: “We must not limit the discussion to loot boxes only. It’s about all the gambling-like elements.”

Youth Protection Act as the right anchor?

How and, above all, where these should be regulated in the future was a focus of the discussion with well-known gambling experts from the legal sciences. “We need this round table,” emphasized attorney Dr. Andreas Woerlein. With a view to the youth protection law, lawyer Carsten Bringmann said: “I have great sympathy for locating the issue at the federal level. Gambling law is aimed at adults – for this reason alone it must be questioned whether appropriate regulation can take place there or whether the Youth Protection Act offers the right anchor.

Prof. Dr. Julian Krüper, Chair of Public Law, Constitutional Theory and Interdisciplinary Legal Research at the Ruhr University Bochum. “We are moving in the border area of consumer protection, gambling regulation and youth protection.” Lennart Brüggemann raised the question of the regulation of loot boxes and also made the federal government responsible for finding a Germany-wide solution. Like Carsten Bringmann, Brüggemann also described a round table with all those involved as the next important step.

SOURCE: Westdeutsche Lotterie GmbH & Co. OHG (Westlotto).