Prohibits a person offering loot boxes to consumers within the state to repurchase the contents of any such loot box whether directly themselves or indirectly through a third-party provider.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A9044
SPONSOR: Vanel TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the general business law, in relation to prohibited
practices related to loot boxes
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
Prohibits certain practices related to loot boxes.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
399-1(1). Sets definitions
399-1(2). Prohibits persons offering loot boxes from repurchasing the
contents of the loot box for money or a cash equivalent or other types
of benefits.
399-1(3). Prohibits persons offering loots boxes from offering loot
boxes containing money, cash equivalents, or other types of benefits.
399-1(4). Sets penalties
Section 2 provides the effective date.
JUSTIFICATION:
Yet another scheme to circumvent the state's gambling laws has exploded
in popularity, enabling operators to pocket millions from what is, in
essence, unregulated wagering simply because existing statutes overlook
the very loopholes these services exploit.
Loot boxes are mystery containers holding a predefined pool of items,
each tied to a specific probability of being revealed when opened. On
their own, loot boxes aren't necessarily concerning. The real danger
arises when purchasers can immediately redeem cash, cash equivalents, or
platform credits based on the item they receive, effectively turning a
surprise mechanic into a wagering system.
Consider this typical scenario: a $100 loot box holds three possible
outcomes: Item A (75% chance, valued at $50), Item B (24% chance, valued
at $125), and Item C (1% chance,, valued at $1,000). If a player opens
the box and lands on Item A, the platform instantly offers $50 in cash
or credits. The user can then either cash out or reinvest those credits
toward another $100 box, typically by depositing from their bank account
the remaining $50 themselves. What begins as a single $100 purchase can
quickly spiral into a series of microtransactions that obscure the true
cost and encourage continued spending.
In effect, guaranteed buybacks for loot boxes function identically to
traditional gambling. Each purchase is a bet on a digital item with
known odds and known guaranteed values, and each item comes with an
automatic and essentially buyback per the purchasing terms. In essence,
the items within the loot box become no more than a representation of
value, like casino chips, that have a payout guarantee.
There would be no issue if the contents of the loot box were provided to
the consumer without the option of a buyback. States have traditionally
permitted such goods, like the sports card industry, which have offered
such mystery products for over a century without issue since the consum-
er always receive a physical (or digital) item in return.
To protect consumers from gambling addiction and uphold the integrity of
our gambling laws, loot boxes offering cash-out or credit redemption
must be prohibited.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
None
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
N/A
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
9044
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
September 5, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. VANEL -- read once and referred to the Committee
on Consumer Affairs and Protection
AN ACT to amend the general business law, in relation to prohibited
practices related to loot boxes
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The general business law is amended by adding a new section
2 399-l to read as follows:
3 § 399-l. Prohibited practices related to loot boxes. 1. The following
4 terms shall have the following meanings:
5 (a) "Loot box" shall mean any physical or digital container or equiv-
6 alent that, when opened, awards the purchaser one or more randomized
7 rewards.
8 (b) "Person" shall mean any natural person, entity, or group or
9 persons or entities acting in concert, including but not limited to any
10 third-party providers, affiliated entities, subsidiaries, parent compa-
11 nies, joint ventures, partnerships, agents, or employees thereof, or any
12 entity or individual acting at the direction of, in cooperation with,
13 under contract or in partnership with, or financially benefitting from
14 another person or entity. Multiple persons in partnership or under
15 contract, where one or more persons financially benefit from such part-
16 nership or contract shall be treated as one person for purposes of this
17 section.
18 (c) "Liquid digital item" shall mean any digital item that can be sold
19 on a digital marketplace.
20 (d) "Repurchase" shall mean the act of offering a consumer money, cash
21 equivalents, cryptocurrency, including non-fungible tokens, another loot
22 box or similar item, a liquid digital item, any right, privilege,
23 status, service, experience, or access, or points that can be redeemed
24 to purchase another loot box, item, cash or cash equivalent, cryptocur-
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD13589-01-5
A. 9044 2
1 rency or a liquid digital item in exchange for some or all of the
2 contents of a loot box.
3 2. No person offering loot boxes to consumers within the state shall
4 repurchase the contents of any such loot box whether directly themselves
5 or indirectly through a third-party provider, affiliated entity, subsid-
6 iary, parent company, joint ventures, partnership, agent, or employee
7 thereof, or through any other contractual arrangement with another in
8 exchange for money, cash equivalents, cryptocurrency, including non-fun-
9 gible tokens, another loot box or similar item, a liquid digital item,
10 any right, privilege, status, service, experience, or access, or points
11 that can be redeemed to purchase another loot box, item, cash or cash
12 equivalent, cryptocurrency or a liquid digital item, nor may any third-
13 party provider, affiliated entity, subsidiary, parent company, joint
14 venture, partnership, agent, or employee thereof, or another through any
15 other contractual arrangement repurchase or redeem those contents for
16 such value.
17 3. No loot box shall contain money or any cash equivalent or crypto-
18 currency, including non-fungible tokens, any status, tier, membership
19 level, or credential, or points that can be redeemed to purchase another
20 loot box, item, cash or cash equivalent, cryptocurrency or a liquid
21 digital item.
22 4. A person who violates the provisions of this section shall be
23 subject to a civil penalty of one thousand dollars per violation or
24 three times such revenue derived from such violation, whichever is
25 greater. For purposes of this section, the person or entity providing
26 such loot boxes shall be held liable for the conduct of any third-party
27 provider, affiliated entity, subsidiary, parent company, joint venture,
28 partnership, agent, or employee thereof, or another through any other
29 contractual arrangement provided however that where the person or entity
30 providing such loot boxes is not subject to the jurisdiction of the
31 attorney general, any third-party provider, affiliated entity, subsid-
32 iary, parent company, joint venture, partnership, agent, or employee
33 thereof, or another through any other contractual arrangement that is
34 subject to the jurisdiction of the attorney general shall be jointly and
35 severally liable for such penalty.
36 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
