Explainer: Australia's new loot box and in-game gambling laws

Potentially coming soon to a jurisdiction near you.

Gotta win em’ all. Source: Reddit.

Australia rarely makes global headlines when it comes to video game legislation. And when we do, it's not always for the right reasons. But last week, we became one of the first countries — next to China — to regulate loot boxes and gambling content in games. So what does it all mean? This week we dig behind the headlines to offer some context on this key change that could roll out in some form globally.

What does this change actually mean?

This is the second major change to Australia's game classification system in the past decade — the first being the introduction of an R18+ rating in 2013. It can be broken down into three major changes:

1. Games that contain loot boxes, or mechanics that trade in-game purchases for a chance at acquiring an in-game item, will automatically be classified M15+ in Australia. This is aimed at deterring the exposure of loot box mechanics to minors.

2. Games that contain "simulated gambling" will automatically be classified as R18+…