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

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Brazil has joined the growing number of countries addressing loot boxes in video games. President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva recently signed a law prohibiting their sale to anyone under 18. The rules will take effect in March 2026, according to PC Gamer.

Brazil with a ban on loot boxes

This ban is included in a new law designed to keep children safe from online abuse and exploitation. One section of the law, chapter seven, focuses specifically on video game loot boxes.

Games can’t offer loot boxes if they’re targeted at or easily accessed by children and teenagers, based on the game’s age rating.

So, the rules say that if a game lets kids talk to each other – whether by typing, voice chat, or video – the game companies have to do a few things. Basically, they need to have a way for us to report problems, let us know what’s happening with our reports, and be able to punish players who break the rules if we ask them to.

For these safety measures to truly work, we need to start verifying people’s ages. Currently in Brazil, users are only asked to state their age, but that’s not enough.

The new law requires service providers to use reasonable and secure methods to estimate the age of their users, and to be able to demonstrate they are doing so. Importantly, any data collected for this purpose can only be used to verify age.

Brazil isn’t alone in addressing loot boxes. While Belgium previously banned them, the effort didn’t go well. Other countries, including Austria, the Netherlands, and Spain, have also taken steps to regulate or address these types of purchases.

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2025-09-29 14:02