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Top-selling mobile games break rules on loot boxes

Ads for games are meant to say if they contain loot boxes - BBC News has found most do not.

The most popular mobile games in the UK are being advertised without disclosing they contain loot boxes - random in-game purchases which critics say are "exploitative" and "foster addiction". Trade body Ukie published guidance in July 2023, including the requirement to disclose loot boxes prior to games being purchased, which the industry was given a year to comply with. Mr Xiao told the BBC the findings were in line with preliminary results of his own research, which has also found around 90% of games containing loot boxes are not disclosing this in their ads.

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