In his appearance before the Committee on Health and Consumption of the Congress of Deputies, the minister has listed some measures in which he works for the prevention and curbing of problematic gambling and, specifically, those focused on the protection of the population sectors more vulnerable, including minors.
As Garzón has pointed out, the ministry studies "in a very attentive way" the proliferation of gambling within video games, "a widespread phenomenon that favors the appearance of pathological phenomena", mainly in children and adolescents.
Reward boxes are one of the strategies of videogame companies to loyalty the user, but at the cost of promoting compulsive consumption behaviors associated with chance, similar to those of a 'slot machine' and dangerous to health. The user pays small amounts for a prize that is randomly drawn, which is a practice that can be regulated like any other game of chance, according to the ministry.
This means for the government a new way of entering into problematic game consumption by minors, with the ignorance of mothers and fathers who ignore that the game incorporates dynamics harmful to the development of minors.
The minister recalled that his department works with a comprehensive plan that addresses the problems caused by the game in Spain and that the Royal Decree of commercial communications of gaming activities is a first step in which, for the first time, it is created a regulatory framework for betting advertising.
