Hi, I’m Leon, a PhD Fellow at the IT University of Copenhagen.

I research video game law, particularly the regulation of loot boxes, gacha, and other gambling-like monetisation mechanics in video games that offer random rewards. I am trained in English law. I use empirical legal research methods to assess whether companies are complying with various rules in different countries through fieldwork, and I advise on how compliance could be improved.

I also conduct traditional, doctrinal legal research and psychology studies, including surveys and experiments. I am passionate about open science: I preregister research methods, share data, and even conduct registered reports (including likely the first one in the world in the legal discipline). I also dabble in some research on gameplay time and videogaming ‘addiction’ and the intersections between cryptocurrencies, NFTs, gaming, and gambling.

I am actively involved in advising on policymaking across the world. I have been invited to testify before an Australian House Committee. My research has been referenced (twice!) in the House of Lords and relied upon by UK, US, EU, Spanish, Danish, Dutch, Australian, and Brazilian policymakers and regulators. The Belgian Minister of Justice has publicly accepted my research critical of his government.

I put my research results into practice by making complaints against companies either through relevant regulators or directly. Through my actions, many key precedents in video game advertising regulation have been established in the UK, and companies have been fined in the EU for non-compliance. Companies and industry self-regulators have taken direct compliance and remedial actions following my research, e.g., amending the app store listings of many popular games to ensure consumer protection.

My award-winning research has received worldwide coverage by The Guardian, The BBC, The Times, CNBC, NPR, Ekstra Bladet, Politiken, El Español, El Economista, Der Standard, Het Nieuwsblad, Het Laatste Nieuws, ČT24, SCMP, NME, The Daily Beast, New Scientist, Thanh Niên, and leading video game media, e.g., GamesIndustry.biz, GameSpot, Eurogamer, and Game Developer, amongst others.

I was recognised as a Forbes 30 Under 30 and a Berlingske Talent 100 for my policy advocacy.

I have won multiple research and impact awards, a prestigious Danish grant, and multiple ECR grants, totalling over £68,000 in value. Our upcoming funded project will focus on using EU law (specifically, the Digital Services Act) to scrutinise gambling and video game advertising using social media ad repositories. I also hope to use data protection law (e.g., the GDPR) to access research data that the industry refuses to share publicly fearing that the results will be contrary to their commercial interests.

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Leon Y. Xiao, LLB, LLM, AFHEA

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I have been invited by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) of the UK Government to provide advice on its technical working group for loot boxes and the Video Games Research Framework. I was also invited to advise the Danish Competition and Consumer Authority, the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC), and the Dutch Authority for Consumers and Markets, amongst many other policymakers and regulators around the world. My research was referenced on behalf of the UK Government in the House of Lords to support its regulatory position (Hansard: HL Deb 13 Oct 2022, vol 824, col 890); during debates in the Lords on the Online Safety Bill (Hansard: HL Deb 17 July 2023, vol 831, col 2152); and extensively in evidence to an Australian parliamentary committee and the Committee’s eventual report (pp. 138–146). My legal analysis of EU consumer protection regulations has been incorporated into the UK Advertising Standards Authority’s guidance on advertising in-game purchases (pp 9–10) and the UK Government’s response to the loot box call for evidence (paras 202–207). I was cited in class action complaints filed in California and two Spanish consultation papers on loot boxes. I co-won the impact prize at the 2023 annual conference of the Society for the Study of Addiction.

I hold law degrees from Durham University and City, University of London and also studied on exchange at National University of Singapore. I am an Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. Previously, I was a Lord Denning Scholar at The Honourable Society of Lincoln’s Inn and held visiting appointments at KU Leuven (Belgium), The Jagiellonian University (Poland), Queen Mary University of London (UK), and Stanford Law School (US).

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Get in touch at leon.xiao.y [at] gmail.com