UK MPs have called for the government to regulate the games industry's use of loot boxes under current gambling legislation -- urging a blanket ban on the sale of loot boxes to players who are children. From a report: Kids should instead be able to earn in-game credits to unlock look boxes, MPs have suggested in a recommendation that won't be music to the games industry's ears. Loot boxes refer to virtual items in games that can be bought with real-world money and do not reveal their contents in advance. The MPs argue the mechanic should be considered games of chance played for money's worth and regulated by the UK Gambling Act. The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport's (DCMS) parliamentary committee makes the recommendations in a report published today following an enquiry into immersive and addictive technologies that saw it take evidence from a number of tech companies including Fortnite maker Epic Games; Facebook-owned Instagram; and Snapchap. The committee said it found representatives from the games industry to be "wilfully obtuse" in answering questions about typical patterns of play -- data the report emphasizes is necessary for proper understanding of how players are engaging with games -- as well as calling out some games and social media company representatives for demonstrating "a lack of honesty and transparency," leading it to question what the companies have to hide.

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Children should also be barred from buying addictive in-game rewards, advises report

Video game loot boxes should be regulated as gambling and children barred from purchasing them, a House of Commons committee has advised.

The recommendation comes as part of the digital, culture, media and sport (DCMS) committee’s report on immersive and addictive technologies, published on Thursday after months of parliamentary hearings with technology and gaming companies.

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Total of £5.5bn pumped in since January, £3.1bn of it from the US and Asia, says government data

Fast-growing UK tech companies secured a record £5.5bn in foreign investment in the first seven months of this year, according to research for the government’s digital economy council.

The study for the Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) body revealed that the UK has overtaken the US for the amount of investment per capita.

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The social network is accused of providing a "disingenuous" response to MPs' latest questions.

New Schools’ Network director Luke Tryl got a juicy bit of PR in SchoolsWeek nine days ago, which announced that he was resigning his role at NSN to become a SpAd to his old boss Nicky Morgan in DCMS. Tryl formally left his role at NSN yesterday. Which is awkward because his SpAd appointment has […]

The post Luke Tryl Spikes His Own SpAd Appointment appeared first on Guido Fawkes.

(Press Release) The government needs to convene a comprehensive meeting with all relevant stakeholders to map a way forward on its Internet regulation plans, says a leading group of experts in an open letter to the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS).