Another country takes on loot boxes in games to protect underage players

Brazil is the latest country to tackle loot boxes in video games. The local president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, signed a law earlier this month banning their sale to people under the age of eighteen. The new regulations will come into force in March 2026 (via PC Gamer).

Brazil with a ban on loot boxes

The ban is part of a larger law aimed at protecting children from abuse and exploitation on the internet. Chapter seven is dedicated to video games, specifically loot boxes.

Also, the law says that games where kids can chat with each other using text, audio, or video need to meet certain rules. Companies are required to offer a reporting system, provide information on the progress of their review, and have tools to request the re-imposition of penalties.

However, for these safeguards to be effective, it's necessary to introduce appropriate age verification mechanisms. Until now, self-declaration of age by the user has been considered enough in Brazil.

The new law imposes an obligation on service providers to "take proportionate, auditable and technically secure measures to assess the age or age range of users." It's noted that the collected data may only be used for this purpose.

Brazil isn't the only country that has taken action against loot boxes. They were banned in Belgium at one time, but the results turned out to be quite poor. Austria, the Netherlands and Spain, among others, also did something in this aspect.

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