Over the last decade, Dean has amassed a healthy collection of video games, from smash hits to cult classics. His digital library is like a modern day Blockbuster, all readily accessible with just a click or two. But his son, Sam, has eyes for only one video game: Roblox, the behemoth virtual universe-slash-video game that's among the most popular on the planet. The company reports that more than 97 million people log on to Roblox every day. Around 40% of those are, like Sam, under 13 years of age.

Exasperated parents may decry video games as a mind-destroying waste of time as they try to prise their children away from them. But could video games – whisper it – actually be good for us? A new study from Japan suggests they can significantly improve mental wellbeing in children and adults. 'These games can serve as distraction or emotional release, providing stress relief, mood enhancement and a sense of accomplishment,' Dr Hiroyuki Egami, an assistant professor at Nihon University and the lead author of the study, told Good Health. The behavioural scientist, who analysed the effects of gaming on people aged from ten to 69, added that many parents'feel excessively worried about their children's video game habits, fearing potential negative consequences'... but'our study now provides robust scientific evidence to ease some of those worries'.

Loot boxes in video games and mobile games have become less of a flashpoint for controversy, but a few years ago they were a major target of ire for both gamers and regulators. The wheels of justice (or at least of legislation) turn slowly, but they do turn, and Australia is making a big move in this sector. Starting this Sunday, any game sold in Australia with loot boxes will be rated either M (Mature) or R 18 (Restricted). For the uninitiated, loot boxes are essentially digital blind boxes. Gamers buy a loot box (or several) in the hopes of finding rare items, weapons, or character outfits. But actually getting what you want is pure chance… and chance that's artificially slimmed down to an incredible longshot for the most rare and desirable items.

The UK government's decision to let technology companies self-regulate gambling-style loot boxes in video games has been called into question, after some of the developers put in charge of new industry guidelines broke their own rules. In the past six months, the advertising regulator has upheld complaints against three companies involved in drawing up industry rules, including the leading developer Electronic Arts (EA), for failing to disclose that their games contained loot boxes. An expert who submitted the complaints said he had found hundreds more examples of breaches but had only taken a handful to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) in order to highlight the problem. Loot boxes are in-game features that allow players to pay, with real money or virtual currency, to open a digital envelope containing random prizes, such as an outfit or a weapon for a character. Despite warnings from experts that loot boxes carry similar risks to gambling, the then Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport said in July 2022 it would not follow other countries, such as Belgium, in choosing to regulate them as gambling products.

Over the weekend, the Guardian published a trio of stories about video game addiction. One was about the 850 people referred to an NHS treatment clinic in the last three years (of whom 227 were under 18). Another was on developers' use of tactics from the gambling industry to keep people spending on games. The third was by the director of the National Centre for Gaming Disorders, calling for industry regulation to better protect young people. These stories concern a problem that is certainly real, especially so for people affected by compulsive gaming behaviour, whose stories are no less affecting than those of gambling addicts.

Parents shouldn't take away consoles from children who show signs of gaming addiction because it could lead to physical violence, a psychologist has warned. Professor Henrietta Bowden-Jones, head of the National Centre for Gaming Disorders, says it can become a police matter when kids lose access to gaming. The centre – which along with the World Health Organization recognises gaming addiction as a disorder – is seeing teens who are gaming up to 14 hours a day. Children are hooked on Call of Duty, Fortnite, FIFA, Angry Birds, War Zone and Minecraft, but no game is necessarily more addictive than any other. According to the centre's founder, it has dealt with 745 patients since it opened in October 2019, including 327 last year.

Earlier this year, at the famed La Romareda stadium in Zaragoza, Spain, EA Sports organised two football matches, one each for male and female pro players. During these competitive 90-minute fixtures, all participants, including subs and officials, wore advanced Xsens motion capture suits that recorded their every movement, shot, tackle and celebration. Involving more than 70 people it was, according to gameplay producer Sam Rivera, the largest number of players ever motion-captured in a single session. Every year, the developers of Fifa tell us that their key aim is authenticity. This year, Fifa 23 – the final product of EA Sports and Fifa's 30-year partnership – is about making key moments more intelligible, detailed and dramatic, zooming in ever closer to the action at pitch level.

Legislators around the world have become increasingly concerned with loot boxes, particularly in titles popular with children. In video games, loot boxes are capsules of random virtual items that can be purchased with real money, in-game currency or a combination of the two. The rewards obtained by opening a loot box can range from purely cosmetic items (as is the case for "Overwatch" loot boxes) to rewards that enhance a player's power in-game, a model decried as pay-to-win by many gamers. The implementation of loot boxes in 2017′s "Star Wars Battlefront II," which resulted in a massive public outcry, was a disastrous cautionary tale for publishers pursuing the latter route.

Loot boxes in video games will not be banned in the UK, despite a government consultation finding evidence of a "consistent" association between the features and problem gambling. Loot boxes have attracted comparison with gambling because they allow players to spend money to unlock in-game rewards, such as special characters, weapons or outfits, without knowing what they will get. The features, popular in games such as Call of Duty and the Fifa football series, were effectively banned in Belgium in 2018, but the culture minister, Nadine Dorries, said the UK would not follow suit. Instead, after a 22-month consultation, she said the government would discuss tougher "industry-led" protections with the UK's £7bn gaming sector, drawing allegations from one expert that "foxes are guarding the hen house". Legislating to impose curbs or a prohibition on loot boxes as part of an expected overhaul of the UK's gambling laws could have "unintended consequences", Dorries said.

Another European country could soon place legal restrictions on video game loot boxes. As Der Spiegel and Eurogamer report, Germany's Bundestag has passed a reformed Youth Protection Act that would limit loot boxes to games with an 18-plus age rating. The "gambling-like mechanisms" pose too many risks for kids, according to the law. The revised law still has to receive approval from the Bundesrat (Federal Council), but could take effect as early as the spring if it moves forward. Developers like EA have long denied connections to gambling, likening loot boxes to Kinder eggs and other treats with surprises inside. Critics have rejected these defenses, though, accusing studios of designing loot box mechanics to exploit users with promises of rare cosmetic items or pay-to-win advantages.