SPAIN Trends and Developments Contributed by: Alla Serebrianskaia, Marta de Francisco, Sara Lao and Laura Llorca, Asensi Abogados
Recent developments regarding loot boxes in Spain In recent years, Spain has made multiple unsuccessful efforts to regulate loot boxes. The loot box or random reward mechanism is understood to be “any virtual functionality that can be activated using legal tender or through a virtual item, such as a code, key, in-game currency, cryptocurrency, or another element acquired directly or indirectly with money. The outcome of such activation is uncertain and consists of obtaining a vir- tual item that may be exchanged for money or other virtual items”. Also in October 2025, the Ministry of Social Rights, Consumer Affairs, and Agenda 2030, launched an institutional campaign to inform and alert young peo- ple and their families about the risks of “loot boxes” in video games. Under the slogan “Less Loot Boxes, More Real Gamers”, the campaign aims to show young people and their families how these boxes work and how they use psychological techniques that can lead to addiction. This campaign joins the latest consumer initiatives to ensure a safe digital environment mentioned before, such as the regulations that will require operators to warn about the risks of online gambling and the pro- hibition of welcome bonuses, included in the future Customer Services Act. Creation of the “Registry of Gaming Providers” Apart from the news on advertising, one of the main changes that the future Law on Customer Services aims to introduce is the amendment of some articles of Law 13/2011 of 27 May 2011 regarding the creation of a new Registry of Gaming Providers, for B2B oper- ators that, under current legislation, have not been required to apply for a licence to be able to operate in the Spanish market. The package of changes regarding this new require- ment is justified by the fight against illegal gambling and the need for traceability of the technical supply chain (suppliers) in the state market. Among other things, the amendments introduced by the draft Law on Customer Services, involve the fol- lowing:
• Creation of the (State) “Register of Gaming Provid- ers” ‒ a new letter (d) is added to Article 22.1, so that the DGOJ may establish, under its authority and control, a specific register of suppliers. This register will contain the details of natural or legal persons who provide services or supply compo- nents specific to technical gaming systems to operators. The purpose of this is to enforce the prohibition on such services or components being offered in Spain by third parties without a licence. • Registration as a Requirement for Technical Approval/Authorisation ‒ the new registry is linked to Article 16 of Law 13/2011 (approval of techni- cal systems): platforms, software, and aggregator systems supplied by external providers may only be approved or authorised if the provider is duly registered in the Registry of Gaming Providers. • Strengthening of the Penalty Framework – Article 40 of Law 13/2011 (serious offences) is amended to classify as a serious offence the provision of platform, software, or aggregator services to companies that operate games in Spain without the corresponding licence. This penalty provision is designed to align with the new registration require- ment and the control of approvals. Although the specific wording may change follow- ing the completion of the parliamentary process, all these new developments represent a major change in the current licensing framework for gaming operators in Spain, where, until now, no distinction was made between B2B and B2C operators. Upcoming joint deposit limits regime and forthcoming changes to financial guarantee requirements One of last year’s hot topics was undoubtedly the sys- tem of joint deposit limits that is going to be incorpo- rated in Spain in the short term. By way of background, operators are currently required to establish economic limits on the deposits that they may receive from each participant on a daily, weekly or monthly basis. These limits, as they are configured, are set indepen- dently for each operator, which means that the total volume of deposits that can be made by a participant
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