To protect minors, the government requests supervision of six games with risks similar to those of betting

The Ministry of Justice asked the National Data Protection Agency (ANPD), through a technical note, to investigate six games that contain so-called loot boxes for exposing children and adolescents to risks similar to those of online betting — prohibited in Brazil.

The request is related to the six-month validity of ECA Digital, a law that protects children and adolescents on the internet and restricted minors' access to random reward mechanisms in electronic games.

The games mentioned in the technical note are NBA 2K26 and WWE 2K26, from Take-Two Interactive; Counter-Strike 2, from Valve; Call of Duty, from Activision; Genshin Impact, from HoYoverse; and PUBG Mobile, from Tencent Games.

Reward boxes allow players to purchase, through direct payment or virtual currency, virtual items or advantages whose contents are defined randomly.

According to a report from the General Coordination of Rating Policies, from the Ministry of Justice, the central element of the mechanism is uncertainty: the player pays before knowing what he will receive, and the result is drawn according to probabilities defined by the game provider itself.

"The analysis indicates that exposure to reward boxes in childhood and adolescence is associated, according to the scientific literature examined, with outcomes linked to problem gambling, psychological suffering and financial damage, although this association does not authorize, in isolation, to affirm a direct causal relationship with clinical disorders", says the note from the Ministry of Justice.

The Ministry of Justice assesses that these mechanisms are particularly worrying when aimed at children and adolescents or inserted in games that are likely to be accessed by this audience.

"It is worth highlighting that the association between the purchase of reward boxes by children and adolescents and problematic betting behavior is not just the result of an isolated study, but a set of studies, which crosses countries", adds the government.

It will be up to the ANPD to analyze the information presented by the Ministry of Justice and decide on the possible adoption of measures.