Brazil's Ministry of Justice has asked the National Data Protection Authority (ANPD) to investigate six video games that contain loot boxes.
The ministry argues they expose children and adolescents to risks similar to those of online betting, now banned in Brazil. The request, made through a technical note, coincides with six months of the Digital Child and Adolescent Statute (ECA Digital), the law protecting minors online, which bars their access to randomized reward mechanisms in electronic games, which was backed by the industry.
The games named are NBA 2K26 and WWE 2K26 (Take-Two Interactive), Counter-Strike 2 (Valve), Call of Duty (Activision), Genshin Impact (HoYoverse) and PUBG Mobile (Tencent Games).
According to the note, all six keep loot boxes and carry an 18+ age rating, but have no age verification to keep minors out. The survey is preliminary and doesn't by itself show the companies are breaching the ECA Digital. Each case will need to be checked, and other games may be added.
The ministry's classification policy unit says the central element of the mechanism is uncertainty: players pay before knowing what they will receive, with the outcome drawn according to probabilities set by the game provider.
That combination of payment, chance and expected reward is what brings these mechanisms close to betting, in its view, and it can encourage repeat purchases because players don't know how many attempts a given reward will take.
"The analysis indicates that exposure to loot boxes in childhood and adolescence is associated, according to the scientific literature examined, with outcomes linked to problem gambling, psychological distress and financial harm," the note says, while cautioning that this doesn't on its own establish a direct causal link with clinical disorders.
The ministry also asks that the information be shared with the Health Ministry to support research on the mental health impact of loot boxes on minors and the ANPD will now review the material and decide whether to act
