Most Popular Mobile Games Fail to Meet UK Regulations on Loot Box Advertising

A significant majority of top-grossing Android games do not adhere to UK regulations by failing to disclose the presence of loot boxes in their advertisements, thus violating the standards set by the Advertising Standards Authority. An investigation conducted by the BBC analyzed the advertisements for the 45 highest-grossing games on Google Play and found that while 26 of these games included mentions of loot boxes in their store listings, and 22 were actively being advertised, only two games clearly indicated the presence of loot boxes in their ads. The ASA mandates that games featuring loot boxes must disclose this information in their advertisements, threatening to ban non-compliant ads. Despite issuing several bans against major game developers like EA and Jagex throughout the year for non-compliance, experts express concerns over the ASA's enforcement efficacy. In response, the ASA stated that it continues to monitor the sector closely to assess compliance levels and take appropriate action. Notably, the top-grossing game on Google Play, Scopely's Monopoly Go, was among those that did not mention its randomized in-game purchases in its advertisements.