15 Bold Gaming Predictions For 2018

3. Loot Box Legislation Goes Nowhere

The Prediction: All those government investigations into loot boxes will ultimately amount to nothing, and the practise will continue, albeit at a more subdued level than last year.

Why It Will Happen: The main problem is boring and simple: in purely legal terms, loot boxes probably wouldn't be deemed tantamount to gambling, because the law hasn't had time to be changed or catch up with the realities of contemporary gaming culture.

It would take authorities worldwide to start changing the law for it to have any tangible legal effect on loot boxes, which would be enormously time consuming and almost certainly wouldn't pass in 2018.

Why It Might Not: Maybe, just maybe an enterprising politician with a real vision for tackling predatory loot boxes in games - like Hawaii's Chris Lee, who famously called Battlefront II a "Star Wars-themed casino" - could step up and get the ball rolling. Probably not, though.