Continued from home page…
19 June 2024: I was quoted and cited extensively in the loot box section of the Public Health Approaches to Tackling Gambling-Related Harms in NI inquiry report of the Northern Ireland Assembly All Party Group (APG) on Reducing Harm Related to Gambling (pp. 29–31) after being invited to give oral and written evidence: https://www.gamharmapg.org/publications/inquiry-report-public-health-approaches-to-gambling-in-ni.
21 May 2024: My research was cited multiple times in the Council of Europe International Co-operation Group on Drugs and Addictions (Pompidou Group) Risks and Harms associated with Online Gaming and Gambling report (pp. 23, 28): https://web.archive.org/web/20240716200141/https://rm.coe.int/p-pg-it-2024-2-report-risks-and-harms-online-gaming-and-gambling-final/1680b07d35.
29 March 2024: My ASA complaints against companies for failing to disclose loot box presence was featured in The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2024/mar/29/video-game-companies-developers-loot-boxes-regulator-complaints-rules.
20 March 2024: The UK Advertising Standards Authority has upheld three complaints I made about social media advertising not disclosing the presence of loot boxes: https://www.asa.org.uk/rulings/electronic-arts-ltd-a23-1222185-electronic-arts-ltd.html; https://www.asa.org.uk/rulings/jagex-ltd-a23-1216471-jagex-ltd.html; and https://www.asa.org.uk/rulings/miniclip--uk--ltd-a23-1216455-miniclip--uk--ltd.html.
16 March 2024: Berlingske included me in its annual Talent 100 list. https://www.berlingske.dk/talent-100/han-er-26-aar-og-allerede-verdens-nok-foerende-ekspert-paa-sit-omraade.
26 February 2024: I was awarded an EliteForsk Travel Grant 2024 by the Danish Ministry of Higher Education and Science. This was presented by HM The Queen of Denmark and the Minister of Higher Education and Science. I will visit 🇨🇳, 🇰🇷, 🇳🇱, and 🇬🇧 to assess the effectiveness of loot box regulation globally. 🌍🌏 My profile piece for the award: https://ufm.dk/forskning-og-innovation/forskningsformidling/eliteforsk/prismodtagere/prismodtagere-2024/eliteforsk-rejsestipendierne-2024/leon-y-xiao.
15 January 2024: I discussed loot box regulation with the Gambling Related Harm APPG and Peers for Gambling Reform at an evidence session for the APPG Gambling White Paper Inquiry.
21 December 2023: I was cited in the DCMS Committee report in relation to how industry self-regulation of loot boxes must be treated with scepticism due to my previous empirical research finding poor compliance (p. 27, para. 60): https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm5804/cmselect/cmcumeds/176/report.html.
5 December 2023: I published my annual accessible summary on loot box regulation around the world at GamesIndustry.biz: https://www.gamesindustry.biz/loot-box-state-of-play-2023-a-global-update-on-regulation.
4 December 2023: My research was cited in the Swedish Psychological Defence Agency report Malign foreign interference and information influence on video game platforms: understanding the adversarial playbook (p. 41): https://web.archive.org/web/20240409105615/https://mpf.se/download/18.660bf8cf18c8acbdb7930bc8/1704208301549/mpf-skriftserie-23-03-malign-foreign-interference-and-information-influence-on-video-game-platforms-understanding-the-adversarial-playbook.pdf
16 November 2023: I was given an Honourable Mention in the 2023 round of MCV/DEVELOP’s 30 Under 30: https://mcvuk.com/business-news/mcv-develops-30-under-30-2023/.
22 October 2023: My paper on how the Epic, Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo stores also did NOT implement the PEGI loot box presence warning label has been accepted for publication in ACM Games: Research and Practice. Postprint: https://doi.org/10.31219/osf.io/sbtcf.
4 October 2023: The UK Advertising Standards Authority (the advertising self-regulator) has upheld two complaints I made regarding how Hutch Games failed to make disclosures about the presence of loot boxes within two of its games. For the Apple App Store decision, see: https://www.asa.org.uk/rulings/hutch-games-ltd-a23-1196857-hutch-games-ltd.html. For the Google Play Store decision, see: https://www.asa.org.uk/rulings/hutch-games-ltd-a23-1196862-hutch-games-ltd.html. UK companies should take note and comply! EU companies should also do so, as this rule is based on nationally implemented EU consumer protection law.
27 September 2023: After two years of peer-review at five journals, our study on loot box probability disclosures in the UK in 2021 has finally been published in PLOS ONE: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0286681.
15 September 2023: The relationship between loot box spending and problem gambling replicated in China, whew! We also consider other potential risk factors for loot box harms. Also contains interesting reflections on the previous research methodology of giving the problem gambling scale to all participants. Published now in Addictive Behaviors: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2023.107860.
10 August 2023: Our study questioning the effectiveness of video game play time restrictions placed on young people in China using big data provided by Unity Technologies (7 billion+ hours!) was published in Nature Human Behaviour: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-023-01669-8.
17 July 2023: Our study on the apparent failure of the Apple App Store to enforce its own platform rules concerning loot box probability disclosure was highlighted during debates on the Online Safety Bill (Hansard: HL Deb 17 July 2023, vol 831, col 2152).
15 July 2023: Our study finding that popular iPhone games in the UK were not making loot box probability disclosures as required was featured in The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/jul/14/more-than-850-people-referred-to-london-clinic-for-video-game-addicts-gambling-style-features-loot-boxes.
20 June 2023: I was invited to present before the Responsible Gambling Advisory Council of the Spanish Directorate General for the Regulation of Gambling [Dirección General de Ordenación del Juego (DGOJ)]. Presentation slides: https://doi.org/10.31219/osf.io/s357p. Press release: https://www.ordenacionjuego.es/en/noticia-CAJR_20230620.
June 2023: Our study on UK loot box probability disclosures will soon be published in PLOS ONE: [link forthcoming]. Featured by Tech Xplore: https://techxplore.com/news/2023-06-reveals-loot-probability-disclosure-transparency.html. [This was delayed to October 2023.]
23 May 2023: The story broke that PEGI has taken enforcement action (https://pegi.info/page/complaints-and-enforcement-cases) against Diablo Immortal (Activision Blizzard) and Hunt: Showdown Bounty Hunter - Limited Edition (Plaion) for failing to duly report loot box presence and thusly obtaining a PEGI rating based on incorrect information. Each company was fined €5,000: https://www.gamesindustry.biz/activision-blizzard-plaion-fined-for-not-disclosing-loot-boxes.
29 March 2023: My registered report on the ESRB, PEGI, and IARC loot box presence warning label has been published in Royal Society Open Science: https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.230270
28 March 2023: Great to learn that 4 pieces of research that I co-authored or sole-authored will be presented at DiGRA 2023 in Spain.
7 March 2023: My stage 2 registered report on the ESRB, PEGI, and IARC industry self-regulation requiring loot box presence warning labels (‘In-Game Purchases (Includes Random Items)’) has been recommended by Chris Chambers: https://rr.peercommunityin.org/articles/rec?id=404
7 March 2023: I was recognised in the Forbes Under 30 Europe list under the Games & Sports category: https://www.forbes.com/profile/leon-y-xiao/.
2 March 2023: I wrote a short piece for a debate series on whether it is appropriate to collaborate with the technology industry when conducting academic research. I reflect on my personal experience and make the case that some studies are better off without collaboration, at least initially: https://doi.org/10.1111/camh.12644.
1 March 2023: I was called as a witness to give oral evidence to the Australian House Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs in relation to loot box regulation. My opening statement: https://twitter.com/LeonXiaoY/status/1630927402950860802. Watch the Q&A in full: https://parlview.aph.gov.au/mediaPlayer.php?videoID=605886 (Timestamps: 10:40:00–11:03:38).
13 February 2023: I am co-editing a special issue of the Journal of Gambling Issues on loot boxes entitled: Thinking Outside the Loot Box: Psychology, Regulation, and Beyond. Call for paper: https://doi.org/10.31219/osf.io/qa3ht.
18 January 2023: New working paper! Poor compliance with the ESRB’s, PEGI’s, and IARC’s loot box presence warning label, ‘In-Game Purchases (Includes Random Items),’ was demonstrated in two ways. Firstly, 60.6% of all games so labelled by either the ESRB or PEGI (or 25.7% using a more equitable methodology) were not labelled by the other. Such inconsistencies were most likely caused by one age rating organisation failing to accurately identify loot box presence. Secondly, 71.0% of popular games containing loot boxes on the Google Play Store (whose age rating system is regulated through IARC) did not display the label and were therefore non-compliant. At present, consumers and parents cannot rely on this self-regulatory measure to provide accurate information as to loot box presence, particularly in relation to mobile games. Link: https://osf.io/asbcg
17 January 2023: My registered report identifying that the Belgian ban on loot boxes has not been effective was published in Collabra: Psychology: https://doi.org/10.1525/collabra.57641.
13 December 2022: I have written a round-up of ALL (I think!) loot box-related regulatory and policy developments that happened in 2022 for GamesIndustry.biz: https://www.gamesindustry.biz/loot-box-state-of-play-2022-regulatory-and-policy-research-developments.
5 December 2022: The Game Awards (TGA) has named me a member of their Future Class 2022: https://archive.ph/tU75r.
22 November 2022: Listen to an Ethics and Video Games podcast where I talk about loot box regulation with Dr Shlomo Sher: https://youtu.be/3IWC2mXROkI.
14 November 2022: My paper finding that the Belgian ban on loot boxes has not been enforced has now been peer-reviewed and recommended by Peer Community in Registered Reports: https://rr.peercommunityin.org/articles/rec?id=264.
10 November 2022: Our paper on the (lack of) consumer protection features of crypto gambling websites has been published in the journal Psychology of Addictive Behaviors: https://doi.org/10.1037/adb0000885.
4 November 2022: Maira Andrade won the Poster Prize (Student-led Research) at the Society for the Study of Addiction Annual Conference 2022 for our co-authored paper on the (lack of) consumer protection features of crypto gambling websites.
20 September 2022: I wrote a guest post on GamesIndustry.biz setting out how I think the UK video game industry should self-regulate loot boxes: https://www.gamesindustry.biz/how-should-the-uk-video-game-industry-self-regulate-loot-boxes. I make three specific recommendations based on our prior experience with various regulatory attempts around the world.
17 September 2022: I conducted a secondary analysis of data on compliance with UK loot box industry self-regulation for the DCMS technical working group. In summary, we do not have enough data to conclude that UKIE members were more likely to comply with industry self-regulation than non-UKIE members. I again highlight the need to address the risks posed by foreign companies operating in the UK that do not necessarily engage with UK industry self-regulatory efforts. https://osf.io/kjng7/
7 August 2022: The Journal of Gambling Studies has published our study on the relationship between loot boxes and gambling in China and some survey results regarding probability disclosures and pity-timer mechanics: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10899-022-10148-0
28 July 2022: A preprint of the long-awaited stage 2 registered report for the Belgium study is now available: https://doi.org/10.31219/osf.io/hnd7w. Spoilers: the ban did NOT work.
26 July 2022: Our paper on framing loot box regulation as a public health issue has been published in Current Addiction Reports: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40429-022-00424-9.
23 July 2022: We responded to the Spanish Ministry of Consumer Affairs’ consultation on the draft law that intends to regulate video game loot boxes: https://doi.org/10.31219/osf.io/48yta.
6 July 2022: I am briefly visiting The Jagiellonian University in Kraków, Poland to attend the Digital Games Research Association 2022 International Conference (DiGRA 2022). I will lead a panel discussion on loot boxes; present two papers; and chair one hybrid session on player research. Thanks to the PROM Programme for funding.
June 2022: Our research was cited in the Australian Institute of Family Studies report Harms associated with loot boxes, simulated gambling and other ingame purchases in video games: a review of the evidence (pp. 41–42): https://web.archive.org/web/20240716201422/https://www.classification.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/agrc_literature_review_final_20220906_accessible.pdf.
26 June 2022: Very pleased to hear that two papers were accepted on the same day(!). One about taking a public health approach to loot box regulation in Current Addiction Reports, and another on our 2021 Chinese survey (N = 879) about loot boxes in the Journal of Gambling Studies.
17 June 2022: My paper ‘Drafting video game loot box regulation for dummies: a Chinese lesson’ has been published in Information & Communications Technology Law: https://doi.org/10.1080/13600834.2022.2088062. Drawing on Chinese law 🇨🇳 and 5 failed US loot box Bills 🇺🇸, I suggest how future “loot box laws” can be better drafted. 1️⃣ Why #LootBoxes shouldn’t be called “loot boxes” for legal purposes; 2️⃣ How to make better probability disclosures; and 3️⃣ Regulators need enforcement powers.
6 June 2022: My translation and comments on Chinese (quasi-)regulation of blind boxes (physical loot boxes) have been published in the Gaming Law Review: https://doi.org/10.1089/glr2.2022.0012. I note how gambling regulators around the world have not acted to enforce gambling law against collectible card packs, blind boxes, packs of randomised NFTs, and other gambling-like products, all of which do in fact legally constitute actual gambling due to the presence of secondary markets for their content. Gambling regulators ought to publically justify why they have not acted against such plain and obvious contraventions of gambling law.
30 May 2022: I am visiting the Meaningful Interactions Lab (Mintlab) of the Institute for Media Studies at the Faculty of Social Sciences at KU Leuven to empirically assess compliance with Belgian gambling law through fieldwork for my registered report: https://rr.peercommunityin.org/articles/rec?id=168. Thanks to Profs Bieke Zaman, Rozane De Cock and the FWO-funded Gam(e)(a)ble project for hosting. Thanks to the Academic Forum for the Study of Gambling (AFSG) for funding my project.
17 May 2022: Philip Newall and I argue (in the Journal of Gambling Issues) that loot box probability disclosures are not helpful enough and more can be done to reduce the potential harms of loot boxes. We recommend four ways to reduce the complexity of loot box reward structures: capping (i) the maximum number of loot boxes per game and (ii) the maximum number of potential rewards per loot box; (iii) equalizing winning probabilities across rewards; and (iv) implementing “exhaustible” loot boxes that provide the player with every potential reward after a predetermined amount of money has been spent, thereby effectively instituting a maximum spending limit. Postprint: https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/nuksd.
23 April 2022: Pieterjan Declerck and I critique the recent Dutch decision that loot boxes in the FIFA games do not contravene gambling law. In summary, we argue that (i) paid loot boxes should always be scrutinised on their own in the abstract as to whether they constitute a ‘game of chance’ (whether the overarching video game constitutes a ‘game of chance’ is irrelevant) and (ii) being preoccupied with the gameplay experience of the so-called ‘majority’ of players ignores the experience of the small minority of high-spending players who are most at risk of potential harms. Preprint: https://doi.org/10.31219/osf.io/pz24d.
19 April 2022: My opinion piece responding to Western academics referring to video gaming restrictions on under-18s in China as “draconian” has been accepted for publication in the Journal of Behavioral Addictions. I question, inter alia, whether the measure would have been referred to as “draconian” had it been adopted by a Western country. Should Western academics make this value judgement when a majority of Chinese parents might well support the measure if the matter is put to a vote? I also identify how the literature has been very supportive of Belgium’s ‘ban’ on paid #LootBoxes, an arguably similarly ‘draconian’ measure, and has recommended that other countries (e.g., the UK) should also adopt a ban. Seems rather hypocritical, no? See further: Xiao, L.Y. (forthcoming). Reserve Your Judgment on “Draconian” Chinese Video Gaming Restrictions on Children. Journal of Behavioral Addictions, _(_), __. Postprint: https://doi.org/10.31219/osf.io/4583f.
7 April 2022: My stage 1 registered report intending to assess the effectiveness of Belgium’s ban on loot boxes has been recommended by Dr Karhulahti based on reviews by Drs Chin, Macey, and Moshirnia in Peer Community in Registered Reports: https://rr.peercommunityin.org/articles/rec?id=168.
5 April 2022: My paper on how loot box law and regulation should be drafted, including how loot boxes should be defined, has been accepted by Information and Communications Technology Law. Preprint: https://doi.org/10.31219/osf.io/b6x97.
28 March 2022: A policy paper arguing for doing more than requiring loot box probability disclosures has been accepted for publication in the Journal of Gambling Issues: Xiao & Newall, Probability disclosures are not enough: Reducing loot box reward complexity as a part of ethical video game design. Preprint: https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/nuksd.
28 March 2022: Pleased to learn that I will be awarded Associate Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy (AFHEA) by Advance HE. https://www.advance-he.ac.uk/fellowship/associate-fellowship.
25 March 2022: Very grateful to the Academic Forum for the Study of Gambling (AFSG) and Gambling Research Exchange Ontario (GREO) for awarding me a Postgraduate Research Support Grant. This was derived from ‘regulatory settlements applied for socially responsible purposes’ received by the UK Gambling Commission. I will use this grant to (i) assess video game companies’ compliance with the Belgian ‘ban’ on loot boxes and (ii) conduct a further survey on loot box purchasing and problem gambling in China. https://www.greo.ca/en/resources/AFSG_PostgraduateResearchSupport_Applications_Jan2022.pdf.
12 March 2022: Shanghai published compliance guidelines on blind boxes (盲盒) in January 2022, which are physical products with randomised content. Basically, analogue loot boxes. My thoughts on regulating this product and other gambling-like products as a preprint: https://doi.org/10.31219/osf.io/c6epr.
11 March 2022: Loot boxes in Electronic Arts’ FIFA games found NOT to contravene Dutch gambling law. Quick summary: https://www.scl.org/news/12540-loot-boxes-are-not-gambling-under-dutch-law
8 February 2022: Letter to the Editor published in Addiction identifying that UK paid loot box prevalence rate has increased from 2019 to 2021. https://doi.org/10.1111/add.15829.
5 January 2022: IT University of Copenhagen wrote a feature story about my Game Changers 2021 nomination and summarised my future research direction: English and Danish.
15 December 2021: Our research on loot box probability disclosure regulation in China was featured by Russian News Agency TASS, the largest Russian news agency: https://tass.ru/obschestvo/13207929.
7 December 2021: I was nominated as one of the Game Changers 2021 by GamesIndustry.Biz for my research into loot box regulation and policy advocacy: https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2021-12-07-game-changers-2021-part-one.
1 December 2021: I started a PhD Fellowship at the IT University of Copenhagen in December 2021.
15 October 2021: Listen to a podcast about my most recent research on the effectiveness of UK loot box probability disclosure self-regulation when compared to Chinese loot box probability disclosure law recorded: https://critical-distance.com/2021/10/15/leon-xiao-keywords-in-play-episode-15/.