Why are loot boxes popular?

They are seen by developers and publishers of video games not only to help generate ongoing revenue for games while avoiding drawbacks of paid downloadable content or game subscriptions, but to also keep player interest within games by offering new content and cosmetics through loot-box reward systems.
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Why do people buy loot boxes?

Loot boxes are typically an in-game container that masks the contents- which are random. Players spend real currency or in-game currency to receive one of these random items, which can make the player more powerful, competitive, or appealing.
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What are the positive effects of loot boxes?

Positive Impacts

One significant (positive) impact loot boxes games have on players is they motivate them to play the game. For instance, if you are a player of any particular game and get a rare or valuable item from a loot box, the incentive to play the game will increase.
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Why are loot boxes controversial?

The source of controversy here is that buying a loot box means paying for a randomized reward of variable value. This in turn results in loot boxes being likened to gambling, and to related claims, such as that loot boxes are addictive and, in a sense, similar to slot machines.
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What makes loot boxes addictive?

Loot Boxes are Designed to be Addictive

In this regard, they are similar to slot machines and other gambling products because players risk money for a chance of getting a reward. Loot boxes affect your brain similar to how slot machines do (Whyte, 2019): Prizes are distributed randomly.
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What are video game loot boxes and do they encourage gambling? | ABC News

What is the argument for loot boxes?

Often the main argument cited in favour of loot boxes is that they can aid the process of prolonging a game's lifespan, by continuing to bring in revenue for the game in the years following its release.
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Why are loot boxes not considered gambling?

The government said that a loot box prize 'does not normally have real world monetary value outside of the game'.” In 2022, there was a call for the UK to reform the Gambling Act to include video game loot boxes in gambling regulation.
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Are loot boxes illegal in the US?

Are Loot Boxes Legal? Today, with a few exceptions, most forms of loot boxes remain legal and unregulated worldwide. However, proponents of loot box regulation argue that the chance and rarity mechanics make loot boxes akin to gambling and constitute predatory practices toward minors.
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What countries banned loot boxes?

Loot boxes are banned in some countries (e.g. Belgium and the Netherlands). This means that there's a chance for your game to be blocked from playing in these countries if it contains any form of gambling with bought currency.
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What popularized loot boxes?

Loot boxes were popularised through their inclusion in several games throughout the mid-2010s. By the latter half of the decade, some games, particularly Star Wars Battlefront II, expanded approaches to the concept that caused them to become highly criticised.
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Are loot boxes ethical?

Random methods such as loot boxes are inherently problematic if the odds are not known to players, since there is no way to evaluate whether spending money on them is worth it. Even if the odds are known, they are very similar to gambling and run similar risks, including a worry about addiction.
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Are loot boxes predatory?

With the prevalence of the gaming industry, comes predatory practices designed to get as much money as possible. Some of these practices include loot boxes and gacha. Loot boxes and gacha both involve people spending money to get cosmetics, special abilities, or characters.
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What are the negative effects of loot boxes?

Previous Western and international studies have consistently found loot box spending to be positively correlated with problem gambling. Previous Western studies presented mixed results as to the correlations between loot box purchasing and gambling-related risk factors, mental wellbeing, and psychological distress.
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Why loot boxes should be banned?

Several potential harms have been associated with loot boxes, such as potential mental health and financial issues and their close resemblance to gambling. Due to these issues, some countries have started regulating loot boxes, with some countries outright banning certain types of loot boxes.
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Are loot boxes grooming youth for gambling?

Children may not realise they are spending real money or be aware that small purchases can add up. Research also shows that exposure to loot boxes can affect a young person's likelihood of experiencing gambling harm later in life.
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How are loot boxes similar to gambling?

The prizes may be items such as virtual cosmetics, character skins, weapons, or other enhancements. The specific contents of a loot box are usually unknown until it is opened, adding an element of surprise and anticipation. These feelings are akin to those experienced when gambling.
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What are the demographics of loot boxes?

The annual prevalence rate of loot box purchases was higher for adult gamers than for adolescents (22.7%–44.2% and 20%–33.9%, respectively), but in studies with general population samples, the opposite was true (24.9% for players aged 13–14 versus 7.8% for adults).
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Is Candy Crush considered gambling?

As politicians continue the battle against gambling addiction by regulating casinos and online poker, a new mobile gaming addiction has emerged through free-to-play games.
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Are loot boxes considered gambling?

The government believed that, although loot boxes had some similarities with gambling, an important distinction was the ability to “cash out rewards”. The government said that a loot box prize “does not normally have real world monetary value outside of the game”.
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How much money do loot boxes make?

The purchasing of loot boxes with real-world currency is asserted to have produced 15 billion US dollars for the video game industry in 2020 (Juniper Research, 2021). The increasing revenue is associated with a substantial proportion of contemporary games containing loot boxes.
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What is the players perception of loot boxes?

Over 40% of players also believed loot boxes to be addictive and a waste of money. In fact, the overarching perception of loot boxes was negative – only 19.3% of gamers said they were worth the price, while 8.4% said they cast a positive light on game developers.
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What country made loot boxes illegal?

Belgium continues to maintain its 'ban' on loot boxes because the country's gambling law has a uniquely wide definition. This means that loot boxes cannot be legally offered for sale to either children or adults.
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Are loot boxes good or bad?

In-game purchases such as loot boxes cause financial and emotional harm to children and young people. Children find it difficult to track their spending in-games and fail to understand the value of money, leading to poor spending decisions. Digital items are highly desirable and collectible, driving repeat buying.
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How are loot boxes addictive?

It would be hypothesized that RPG players would get a greater increase in physiological arousal while performing a microtransaction. Findings from the current study indicate that microtransactions produce increases in arousal while opening a loot box and thus have similar addictive qualities as gambling.
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How are loot boxes predatory?

The low probability of obtaining a desired item means that the player will have to purchase an indeterminate number of loot boxes to obtain the item. Loot boxes resemble gambling slot machines because they require no player skill and have a randomly determined outcome (i.e., prize).
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