Mortgaging your home for digital crap is a-ok.
As it turns out, the Entertainment Software Ratings Board (ESRB) doesn’t see loot boxes as gambling. In a statement made to Kotaku, a spokesperson had this to say:
ESRB does not consider loot boxes to be gambling… While there’s an element of chance in these mechanics, the player is always guaranteed to receive in-game content (even if the player unfortunately receives something they don’t want). We think of it as a similar principle to collectible card games: Sometimes you’ll open a pack and get a brand new holographic card you’ve had your eye on for a while. But other times you’ll end up with a pack of cards you already have.
Basically, the ESRB has a very precise definition of what constitutes real gambling in games. For a game to meet that definition, real world money has to be changing hands to and fro. Said definition always places such things with an AO rating. Which means basically no store will carry it.
So next time you see someone open a bunch of randomized boxes they bought in game, say on Twitch, and throw a huge fit, remember: they weren’t technically gambling. At least, according to the ESRB.
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