Paid loot boxes mean at least M and simulated gambling R 18+ under Australia's 2024 game classification rules

On September 22, 2024, new Guidelines for the Classification of Computer Games took effect across Australia, and with them mandatory minimum classifications for gambling-like content in video games, which the previous rules did not have. A game containing in-game purchases linked to elements of chance, including paid loot boxes, must now be classified at least M. A game containing simulated gambling must be classified R 18+. The rules apply to classification decisions made on and from that date, and two years on they remain in force without amendment.

What the 2024 guidelines changed

Australia's National Classification Scheme requires films and computer games to be classified before they are released or advertised, using a National Classification Code and guidelines that the Classification Board must apply. The Commonwealth makes the classification decisions; the states and territories enforce them. The 2023 guidelines, made under the Classification (Publications, Films and Computer Games) Act 1995, replaced the 2012 version. Their explanatory statement says they reproduce the earlier guidelines and add the two new minimums.

Before the change, the statement says, games with simulated gambling and paid loot boxes received consumer advice such as “in-game purchases” and “simulated gambling,” but “there is no mandated classification for gambling-like content.” The new text writes the rule into each category, as the table shows.

The practical effect differs between the two minimums. An M rating for loot boxes is advice: the guidelines say M material is not recommended for people under 15 but carries “no legal restrictions on access.” An R 18+ rating for simulated gambling is a legal restriction to adults.

What counts as a loot box or simulated gambling

The guidelines define in-game purchases linked to elements of chance as digital goods or services determined by chance, including paid loot boxes, that can be bought with real-world money or with virtual currency, items or credits that can themselves be bought with real money. A paid loot box is a virtual container, however described, that is bought or unlocked that way and rewards the player with items that are not disclosed before purchase; the guidelines note that the industry may call them prize crates or card packs. Real-world currency includes cryptocurrency, but not in-game currencies that cannot readily be exchanged for value outside the game.

Simulated gambling is interactive activity that resembles or functions like a real age-restricted betting or gambling service and whose rewards cannot be redeemed, or traded to other players, for real money. The guidelines give casinos, slot machines, lotteries and sports betting as examples. Gambling themes are a separate matter: the current list of consumer advice terms includes gambling-themes advice at every level, from “Very mild gambling themes” for G to “High impact gambling themes” for R 18+.

Why the ministers acted

The explanatory statement ties the change to “growing community concern about children accessing gambling-like content in computer games.” A 2020 review of classification regulation, the Stevens Review, had recommended lower minimums: MA 15+ for games exclusively containing simulated gambling and PG for games with paid loot boxes. The statement says stronger evidence of harm emerged afterward, citing a 2022 Australian Institute of Family Studies review that found associations between loot boxes, simulated gambling mechanics and problem gambling, and further research by the institute that it says found a causal link between young people playing simulated gambling games and taking up real gambling as young adults.

The Stevens Review drew 104 submissions in early 2020, and a consultation on the draft guidelines in May and June 2023 drew 22 from industry, community and advocacy groups and a federal member of parliament. The Office of Impact Analysis assessed the change as having no more than minor regulatory impacts. The participating state and territory ministers agreed to the guidelines unanimously on September 22, 2023, through the Standing Council of Attorneys-General, and the instrument was registered on October 27, 2023. The year's delay before it took effect was meant to give the industry time to adjust, the statement says.

What applies now

The Federal Register of Legislation lists the 2023 guidelines as in force on November 12, 2026, with the version registered on October 27, 2023, still the latest. As an instrument of an intergovernmental scheme, they are not subject to disallowance or sunsetting, according to the explanatory statement.

The labels that accompany a rating have since been updated. A 2024 determination of consumer advice terms, which the register lists from July 26, 2024, to March 11, 2026, was replaced by the Classification (Publications, Films and Computer Games) (Consumer Advice Terms) Determination 2025, registered on December 12, 2025. It took effect on the day after a three-month period that began on registration, which by our count was March 12, 2026, and applies to games classified from then on. Its list for games includes “Chance-based in-game purchases” at M, MA 15+ and R 18+, “High impact simulated gambling” at R 18+, and a general “In-game purchases” advice that may be applied at any level.

For players outside Australia, the rules differ by market. For how U.S. ratings handle in-game purchases, see our ESRB explainer; for the European Union's approach to virtual currencies, see our explainer on the 2025 consumer principles.