Presentation
From September 27 to 29, 2026, the firm participated in the conference “The Gam(bl)ing Conference: Thinking Outside the Loot Box,” held at the University of Hong Kong.
This conference aimed to provide a forum for academics and professionals in the video game industry to share their research related to the regulation of loot boxes, gacha games, skin trading and betting, social casino games, advertising for gambling/games, their regulation in different countries, the protection of minors, and physical products similar to gambling.
Represented by Sophie Roman, we presented on the legal framework and regulations applicable in France and within the European Union.
We extend our sincere thanks to Leon XIAO and his teaching team for organizing this event. The full program can be found on the event website: https://www.cmpo.net/gambling
Gambling and Gaming – A Blurring Legal Distinction
Historically, the gambling and betting sectors on the one hand, and the video game sector on the other, evolved with little overlap. However, the evolution of monetization systems, particularly with the advent of mobile telecommunications devices such as smartphones and tablets, has gradually erased this separation.
While the notable example of loot boxes provoked a strong reaction from governments, other mechanisms are now being examined with much greater vigilance: intermediary virtual currencies, battle passes, daily rewards conditioned on players logging in, and dynamic pricing based on behavioral profiling are all practices that straddle the line between gambling and game design.
Gaming & Video Games – Consumer Law Overwhelmed by Specific Practices
Legally, these mechanisms do not necessarily meet the legal definitions of gambling in most countries, creating a structural gray area that various regulations struggle to address.
Existing consumer law faces several structural obstacles when applied to the video game environment. Traditional mechanisms—right of withdrawal, warranty of conformity, vitiated consent—have not been considered in the face of practices involving the accumulation of repeated micro-decisions, buried within an interface infinitely more complex than the traditional commercial environments upon which legal scholars have based their legal categories.
The legal classification of content exacerbates the difficulty. The ruling issued by the French Court of Cassation in October 2024 (UFC-Que Choisir v. Valve Corporation) confirmed that digital games and content acquired on platforms fall under a license of use, not a sale. While this decision reinforces the publishers’ business model, it shifts the focus of the dispute: the risks now center on the issues of ongoing compliance and unfair terms. Terms of Service clauses that allow for the unilateral modification, degradation, or deletion of content—including the “nerf” and server shutdown practices exemplified by The Crew (Ubisoft, 2024)—do indeed pose a serious risk.
The concept of “dark patterns,” central to the debate, functions more as a standard than as a legal category with its own specific framework. Identifying these practices within the video game environment is made particularly difficult by the complexity of the interfaces: grinding, dynamic difficulty adjustments, and AI-driven personalized recommendations can both optimize and exploit the player experience.
Loot Boxes & Video Game Law: A Rethought Legal Framework
Faced with the inadequacy of traditional frameworks, public authorities are now deploying new regulatory strategies. Regarding loot boxes, the response from states has been deeply fragmented, revealing a lack of consensus on the applicable legal classification.
As early as 2018, Belgium considered loot boxes to be illegal gambling on the grounds that the items obtained could be resold on parallel markets for real money, forcing several major publishers to withdraw them from the Belgian market under threat of criminal penalties. The Netherlands adopted a similar position, making their legality conditional on transparency regarding probabilities and the absence of a cash-out option.
Other states have favored restrictions targeting minors: Brazil adopted a law in 2025 prohibiting the sale of loot boxes to those under 18; Australia now requires a minimum 15+ rating for games containing loot boxes. In the United States, in the absence of federal legislation, the New York Attorney General filed a lawsuit in 2025 against Valve Corporation, alleging that the loot boxes in Counter-Strike 2 constitute illegal gambling.
Other regulatory initiatives are also being implemented specifically to regulate these new practices. France has opted for a more targeted response by creating, through the SREN law of May 21, 2024, a sui generis legal category: games with monetizable digital objects (JONUM). Implemented as a three-year pilot program, the law requires operators to submit a prior declaration to the National Gaming Authority (ANJ), implement strict controls on the majority of players, establish mechanisms for self-limiting spending and playing time, and cap on in-game rewards. This system represents an unprecedented attempt to regulate the gray area between video games and gambling.
Video Game Law: DSA, PEGI, JONUM, and DFA
The European regulatory framework is gradually deploying a variety of significantly stricter and more stringent regulations for consumer protection, the scope of which is progressively extending to video games.
At the EU level, the Digital Services Act, which came fully into force in February 2024, prohibits interfaces that impair users’ decision-making autonomy. Its application to dark patterns in video games is promising but faces the challenge of identifying and concretely measuring their effects in complex gaming environments.
Feared by video game publishers, the Digital Fairness Act (DFA), whose legislative proposal is expected in the fourth quarter of 2026, explicitly targets addictive mechanics in video games—loot boxes, virtual currencies, retention design—as a priority area for intervention. In the context of the active preparation of the Digital Assets Directive (DAD) and the petitions received by the European Parliament, the IMCO Committee formally reaffirmed its position that the future text should establish a strict ban on these random purchase mechanisms to protect minors across the entire European Union.
In parallel, the PEGI system underwent its most significant reform of its classification model in a decade in March 2026: games incorporating paid random purchases are now assigned a minimum PEGI 16 rating, integrating monetization mechanisms as classification criteria for the first time.
These converging developments are shaping the contours of a co-regulatory model under construction, combining hard law (DSA, DDA), a national experimental framework (JONUM), and strengthened sectoral self-regulation (PEGI). Its coherence remains to be established.
Video Games, Esports & Law – Effective Co-regulation to Build
Driven by the desire to protect the “player/consumer,” the regulation of gambling-like mechanics in video games seems to be built in successive layers, without considering their impact on the sector. The French experimental framework JONUM, the DSA, the evolving PEGI ratings, and the future DFA represent scattered and complex responses that could severely impact the overall ecosystem and the business models of many studios.
These studios must now contend with these new regulations and the complex analysis of their mechanisms: the line between legitimate incentives and prohibited manipulation remains difficult to define contractually; algorithmic transparency obligations remain unclear; and the international fragmentation of applicable regimes generates considerable compliance costs.
Video Games & Monetization – Digital Law Specialist
With specialized experience in digital law and expertise in video games, PCS Avocat advises and supports professionals on their various legal issues:
Game Mechanics Audit & Qualification: Comparative analysis and legal qualification of your monetization architectures, in-game purchase systems, and incentive algorithms.
Sector Regulation & ANJ/JONUM Procedures: Structuring your projects under the experimental JONUM regime, preparing and monitoring prior declaration files with the French National Gaming Authority (ANJ), and implementing moderation and self-limitation mechanisms.
EU Compliance & Data Protection: Compliance audits with DSA requirements, preparation for the impact of the future DFA, management of behavioral profiles, and enhanced protection of minors’ data.
Contract Drafting & Terms of Service: Drafting and updating your Terms of Service, distribution agreements, operating licenses, and agreements related to esports events and the management of digital assets.
Dispute Resolution & Pre-litigation: Defense against consumer association actions and representation before administrative and judicial regulatory authorities.
