The German newspaper Welt am Sonntag has managed to get their hands on a study by the University of Hamburg which, according to the sources, attests the games industry's broader similarities with the gambling market due the rise of loot boxes and microtransactions in recent games.
This in turn has caught the eye youth protection media institute Landesmedienanstalt, who are now apparently discussing a ban of such practices in games. Wolfgang Kreißig, president of the youth protection committee, told the Welt he thinks "it would be conceivable that loot boxes may violate the prohibition regarding buying appeals for children and adolescents." Should this assumption prove true, the German bodies could issue bans and fines to the responsible publishers, and we'll find out whether this will be implemented in March.
Do you think it is conceivable?