Seemingly overnight, GTA Online players in Australia have been barred from engaging with any of the games on offer in the video game title’s virtual Diamond Resort Casino venue.

Users took to Reddit to report that they are no longer able to play in the casino, which as a side note only accepts virtual in-game currency. 

While this currency can be purchased with real-life money, it is designed to be spent within the limits of GTA Online and on everything that the game has to offer – including entertainment like cinemas, arcades, and the casino.

The casino features were apparently taken out from GTA Online without any official statement by neither game developer Rockstar nor the Australian government itself. 

The move adds on to a bigger question within the video game industry about altering a product that the customer has already purchased, but that’s a topic for another day.

Not to mention that GTA Online carries an age rating of 18+. Australia recently passed a law that requires online video games with such rating to identify people and their age at the point of logging in. 

With those things in mind, it is difficult to understand why the government would make such a decision affecting all playing adults, when such robust measures to protect children already exist.

Gambling as part of video games

Video games taking centre stage in gambling debates is not a new occurence. In-game mechanics that are triggered with real-money purchases have been causing regulatory headaches for years now.

One of the most widely debated topics are loot boxes – a “surprise” purchasable item that is RNG-based and can give players in-game items that vary in their rarity depending on the video game. 

It has been likened to gambling in many jurisdictions, especially in Europe, where regulators have pushed for a complete ban.

Such was the case in Belgium back in 2018. Germany and Poland are two other EU nations where state authorities have taken a stance against loot boxes. 

The main argument is the same across the board – loot boxes are a form of gambling that include a risk-reward mechanic purchasable with real money. Given that a large portion of video game players are under the age of 18, it is understandable why that would cause concerns.

Another widely discussed topic is skin betting, mostly associated with the video game Counter-Strike. There is a whole economy behind this, where players go on websites that accept real-money as bets and again, give the bettor a completely random in-game item. These websites rarely have a KYC process integrated into their UX.

Last but not least is the topic of betting on esports, which while completely legal, has stirred some controversy because once again, esports – where teams of video game players compete against each other professionally – are in large part enjoyed by younger audiences.

Was GTA Online part of Australia’s gambling reforms?

Back to Australia, the wider gambling sector is currently facing significant reforms by the ruling PM Anthony Albanese’s cabinet. 

A few years ago, a 31-point reform package was proposed by the late Labor MP Peta Murphy, which envisioned stricter rules around self-exclusion, gambling marketing and regulatory oversight.

And while Albanese and his cabinet have made active efforts to bring changes to the sector throughout most of this year, critics have maintained that the government is taking a “soft approach” to the Murphy reform package and have not implemented it as intended.

Choosing to restrict virtual gambling in a video game is certainly more ammo for those arguing that the government has lost its vision of what it wants the gambling sector in Australia to be.