Loot Boxes and Microtransactions under French Law: How to Avoid Classification as Gambling

By Maître Arnaud Touati
06/10/2026

Reviewed and approved by Arnaud Touati (Maître), partner and co-founder of the firm

Key points

To limit the risk of a loot box being reclassified as gambling, the publisher must ensure that rewards can be neither transferred nor converted into money; the player’s skill is not enough to rule out that classification.
Article L. 320-1 of the French Internal Security Code (Code de la sécurité intérieure) sets out four cumulative criteria for gambling: an offer to the public, a financial outlay, the hope of a gain and the involvement of chance, even partial.
Loot boxes almost always meet three of these criteria: the decisive criterion remains the hope of a gain, linked to the value of the reward and whether it can be transferred.
A purely cosmetic, non-transferable reward carries a low risk of classification, a reward transferable between players a medium to high risk, and a reward convertible into real money a very high risk.
Operating a gambling game in breach of Article L. 320-1 is punishable by three years’ imprisonment and a fine of €90,000 (Article L. 324-1 of the Internal Security Code).
The classification of loot boxes varies between European countries; in France, the law of 21 May 2024 opened a supervised experiment for JONUM (games with monetisable digital objects).

To limit the risk of a loot box or microtransaction being reclassified as prohibited gambling, the publisher must ensure that the rewards obtained can be neither transferred nor converted into money, that no required financial outlay gives an automatic, decisive gameplay advantage, and must bear in mind that the player’s skill does not rule out the classification. In France, the ANJ (French national gaming authority) oversees compliance with gaming policy, and the law of 21 May 2024 opened an experiment for games with monetisable digital objects. Approaches vary between European countries.

Table of Contents

French gambling law: the legal framework

Article L. 320-1 of the French Internal Security Code (Code de la sécurité intérieure) (in French) prohibits gambling and deems to be gambling “all operations offered to the public, under whatever name, to create the hope of a gain that would be due, even partially, to chance and for which a financial outlay is required from the participants” (unofficial translation).

This provision sets out four cumulative criteria for gambling:

An offer to the public: accessible to an indeterminate number of people.
A financial outlay by the player, however small.
The hope of a gain, assessed in light of the value of the reward.
The involvement of chance, even partial, in determining the gain: the prohibition also covers games based on players’ skill.

Gambling is in principle prohibited, subject to the exceptions provided for by law (Article L. 320-6 of the Internal Security Code). Operating gambling in breach of Article L. 320-1 is punishable by three years’ imprisonment and a fine of €90,000, increased to seven years and €200,000 where committed by an organised gang (Article L. 324-1 of the same code).

Are loot boxes gambling? The four criteria applied

Offer to the public: mass-market video games → criterion met.
Financial outlay: purchase of the loot box or of convertible virtual currency → criterion met.
Hope of a gain: this is the critical point. See below.
Chance: opening the loot box relies on a random draw → criterion met.

Three criteria are almost always met. The hope-of-gain criterion is the one that determines the classification.

The decisive criterion: convertibility into cash

The more value a reward has, and the more it can be transferred or converted into money, the higher the risk that a hope of gain will be found. Three scenarios:

Scenario A: purely cosmetic, non-transferable reward

The item obtained (skin, emote, equipment) has no effect on gameplay and can be neither sold, traded nor converted. No hope of monetary gain.

Risk of classification: low, subject to a case-by-case analysis.

Scenario B: reward transferable between players

The item obtained can be traded between players within the game or on platforms (for example Steam Marketplace). It then becomes an asset with a value.

Risk of classification: medium to high. The law of 21 May 2024 did, however, open an experimental framework for games with monetisable digital objects (see below).

Scenario C: reward convertible into real money

The item can be sold directly for real money through an official marketplace or a third-party mechanism recognised by the publisher.

Risk of classification: very high. This scenario clearly meets the hope-of-gain criterion. The publisher is exposed to classification as illegal gambling.

The position of the French national gaming authority (ANJ)

The French national gaming authority (in French) (ANJ), an independent administrative authority governed by Article 34 of Law No. 2010-476 of 12 May 2010, oversees compliance with the objectives of gaming policy and takes part in the fight against illegal gambling offers.

The applicable framework now distinguishes between:

Purely cosmetic, non-transferable loot boxes: low risk, to be assessed case by case.
JONUM (games with monetisable digital objects): authorised on an experimental basis for three years from the promulgation of the law by Article 40 of Law No. 2024-449 of 21 May 2024 (known as the SREN law) (in French), restricted to adult players, with no monetary gain and no resale of items to the publisher, after declaration to the ANJ; Decree No. 2026-60 of 4 February 2026 sets the categories of games concerned.
Play-to-earn games offering monetary gains: outside the experimental framework, high risk of classification as illegal gambling.

How to avoid loot boxes being classified as gambling: good practice

Limit rewards to cosmetics: skins, emotes, customisations with no impact on gameplay.
Prohibit transferability: items remain tied to the account and can be neither sold nor traded on the official secondary market.
Block third-party marketplaces: terms of use (CGU) and technical measures preventing sales on unauthorised platforms.
Disclose the odds: display the drop rate of each reward, as a transparency good practice (see also the PEGI organisation).
Offer free alternatives: earning the item through play or progression, with no compulsory purchase.
Spending caps for minors: daily or weekly limits on in-game purchases.
Enhanced information: a clear statement that purchases carry no assurance of obtaining a specific item.

The role of PEGI classification

The Pan European Game Information (PEGI) system uses a dedicated descriptor to flag in-game purchases that include paid random items, which informs consumers before they buy.

Practical consequences:

Consumers are informed before the purchase.
Reputational risks are limited.
Preparation for possible regulatory changes.

Protecting consumers and minors

Clear, prior information: price, random mechanism, odds, optional nature.
Age verification: some mechanisms can be made conditional on the player being an adult.
Parental consent: for minors, purchases approved through the parent account (Apple Family, Google Family Link, manufacturer tools).
Spending caps: daily or weekly limits on in-game purchases for minors.
Right of withdrawal: in B2C, the 14-day right of withdrawal applies save for exceptions (Article L. 221-18 of the French Consumer Code (Code de la consommation)), in particular for digital content not supplied on a tangible medium whose performance has begun with the consumer’s consent (Article L. 221-28, 13°).

Loot box regulation outside France

Belgium: a restrictive approach to paid loot boxes; a local check is essential before any launch.
Netherlands: the penalty imposed by the gaming authority on a publisher was annulled by the Dutch Council of State on 9 March 2022 (ECLI:NL:RVS:2022:690), which illustrates the uncertainty of the classification.
United Kingdom: an approach based on industry self-regulation, to be checked before any launch.
United States: no federal classification, debate at state level.
China: an approach requiring disclosure of the odds.

International publishers adapt their mechanisms to comply with the most restrictive country (often Belgium), which leads them to remove or limit paid loot boxes in the worldwide version.

NFT and play-to-earn games: specific issues

Games that include NFTs and play-to-earn mechanisms carry a higher risk:

Rewards are by nature transferable and monetisable.
The hope of a gain is explicitly part of the marketing promise.
The European MiCA Regulation (EU 2023/1114) on digital assets potentially applies to the tokens used.
The ANJ and the AMF (French financial markets authority) may examine the classification.

Recommendation: before launch, a multidisciplinary legal audit (gambling, financial law, GDPR, tax) to map the risks and adapt the mechanism.

Common pitfalls

Third-party marketplace not blocked: even if the publisher does not authorise resale, the existence of a tolerated marketplace tips the item into a monetisable gain.
Disguised mechanism: premium currency, tokens and random packs can legally be treated as loot boxes.
Misleading communication: presenting the mechanism as a “reward” when it is in fact a random purchase is unfair.
Odds not displayed: a practice increasingly challenged by regulators and consumers.
No cap for minors: frequent complaints from parents, possible litigation.
Launch without a country-by-country legal review: classification varies from country to country. A mechanism that is lawful in France may be prohibited in Belgium.

The line between an acceptable game mechanic and illegal gambling shifts and varies by jurisdiction. An analysis before launch is essential, particularly for international publishers. Every situation is different and calls for a case-by-case analysis.