A BBC investigation has revealed that most of the highest-grossing Android games fail to disclose the presence of loot boxes in their UK advertisements, breaching guidelines set by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA).

The study analysed the top 45 highest-grossing games on Google Play, finding that loot boxes were noted in the store listings of 26 titles.

Among these, 22 were actively being advertised, yet only two mentioned loot boxes in their ads.

ASA regulations mandate that any game featuring loot boxes must disclose their presence in advertisements. Non-compliance can result in ads being banned or removed by the regulatory body.

The ASA has already issued multiple bans this year for advertisements run by companies such as EA, Miniclip, Jagex, Gamehaus, Huuuge Global, Mobee Co, SpinX, and Zeroo Gravity Games.

Despite this, sources consulted by the BBC expressed concerns that the ASA is not adequately enforcing these rules.

In response, the ASA stated: “This is an ongoing area of our work, and we’re closely monitoring the sector to discover the scale of compliance and act accordingly.”