Is the Supreme Court Decision on Loot Boxes Finally Coming in Austria?

Apparently as early as the end of September, the Vienna Higher Regional Court handed down a potential landmark ruling, that loot boxes are not gambling. In doing so, the court explicitly cleared the way for the question to be brought before Austria's highest court. This time it could actually happen.

The Vienna Higher Regional Court has not published the judgment itself or a press release about it. However, the commercial law firm DLA Piper writes about the judgment in a blog post.

It states that the court took a new legal approach in the proceedings to examine whether loot boxes should be classified as games of chance. According to the lawyers, the court refers to the Austrian Gaming Act and takes into account the intention of the player when starting FIFA Ultimate Team. "The court found that the player intended to use the obtained digital items solely for in-game use and not for economic valorization outside the game. Further, FIFA's terms clearly prohibited the use of EA currency and FUT items outside the game", the blog post says. Due to the lack of financial interest at the start of the use, there is no economic risk involved, which is typical for gambling contracts. However, since there is no supreme court decision in the case, the court, according to the blog authors, has explicitly allowed an ordinary appeal to the Supreme Court.

If DLA Piper's statements and analysis are correct, this case is likely to result in the first high court ruling on loot boxes in the German-speaking world. Since the plaintiff will most likely protest the ruling of the Vienna Higher Regional Court, it will be the first lootbox ruling that the Austrian High Court will have to rule over, setting a juristic precedent with whatever conclusion they will come to. Through this, the ruling could also have implications beyond Austria's borders.