Blockchain can solve the lootbox problem

For roughly 10 years, loot boxes have come to play increasingly important role in the business models of game developers and publishers. In fact, these redeemable virtual rewards, which involve accessing maps, weapons and a whole range of upgrades to your in-game functionality, have become so popular that some developers have completely shifted their monetization models away from paid-for-games to free-to-play games because of the revenue they provide.

Such an approach has not gone unnoticed by regulators interested in how they should classify such systems. In particular, the situations where loot boxes providing random rewards can be purchased for cash have come under particular scrutiny because of their potential classification as a form of gambling. In fact, some regulators have taken steps to restrict these mechanisms for this exact reason, with the Belgium Gaming Commission recently following its Dutch counterpart in banning them for being “in violation of gambling regulation”.