Loot Boxes Are Not Gambling, New Zealand Says
Loot boxes do not constitute gambling, according to New Zealand's gambling regulation group. The Gambling Compliance department of its Department of Internal Affairs told Gamasutra this week that "the Department is of the view that loot boxes do not meet the legal definition of gambling."
In a statement, the DIA's Trish Millward said she is aware of the international discussion around loot boxes in video games in the wake of the controversy surrounding Star Wars: Battlefront II. The reasons loot boxes do not meet the legal definition of gambling, she said, is because "gamers do not purchase loot boxes seeking to win money or something that can be converted into money."
Spending real money to buy a loot box that only gives you a chance to get something may "appear to be gambling," Millward admitted, but they do not meet the legal definition. As such, the DIA "has no ability to regulate the activity under the Gambling Act 2003.
https://www.gamespot.com/articles/lo.../1100-6455608/