Loot box researcher Leon Xiao has released the results of his latest study into loot box advertising, which found that ads for games on social media routinely run afoul of UK and EU regulations when it comes to disclosing the presence of loot boxes, or even in-game purchases of any kind.
Using a list of games known to have loot boxes that he had prepared for a previous study, Xiao combed through Meta's ad library (covering its Facebook, Instagram, and Messenger platforms) and found 188 ads for 63 different games featuring loot boxes.
Only 11% of those ads properly gave notice that the game contained in-game purchases, and just 7% noted that the game contained loot boxes. What's more, games were often inconsistent in making such disclosures. Only one game, Elder Scrolls Online, disclosed both in-game purchases and loot boxes in every ad it ran.