{"id":115,"date":"2023-05-25T10:19:12","date_gmt":"2023-05-25T14:19:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/jason-w-osborne\/?p=115"},"modified":"2023-05-25T10:19:13","modified_gmt":"2023-05-25T14:19:13","slug":"how-loot-boxes-in-childrens-video-games-encourage-gambling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/jason-w-osborne\/2023\/05\/how-loot-boxes-in-childrens-video-games-encourage-gambling\/","title":{"rendered":"How Loot Boxes In Children\u2019s Video Games Encourage Gambling"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"A
SOUTH PASADENA, CA – APRIL 23: 11-year-old Ansel, the photographer\u2019s son, plays Fortnite featuring … [+]GETTY IMAGES<\/small><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

While gambling is illegal in the U.S., children can begin gambling as early as 10, and 80% of adolescents\u00a0reported<\/a>\u00a0gambling in the past year. If your child plays video games, they may be gambling without realizing it. Do you know how to identify gambling behavior and what you can do if you suspect there is a problem?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Loot Boxes in Children\u2019s Video Games Encourage \u201cGambling-like\u201d Behavior<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Video games used to be one-time purchases. Today, games act more as a service, with companies often providing them for free and relying upon \u201cloot boxes\u201d and microtransactions like in-app purchases to create revenue streams. According to a Federal Trade Commission report, loot boxes have been a topic of concern both nationally and internationally over concerns that they encourage<\/a> gambling-like behavior or use concerning tactics that can encourage addictive consumer spending, even in games targeting young children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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. The concept became mainstream in 2010 when introduced into popular games<\/a> like Team Fortress 2, and then Overwatch and Call of Duty:WW2. In fact, some popular games, like Star Wars Battlefront II incorporated them to such an extent that it was accused of being \u201cpay to win,\u201d prompting a significant backlash that led to the publisher, Electronic Arts, to revise<\/a> the game. Yet the formula remains common, with popular franchises such as Candy Crush, Diablo, Final Fantasy releasing games that rely heavily on microtransactions and loot boxes<\/a> to succeed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Loot
Microtransactions, loot box systems, and pay to win in mobile games, in-app purchase system in the … [+]GETTY<\/small><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Loot Boxes Generate Huge Profits For The Video Game Industry<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Recent research suggests that the video gaming industry generated up to\u00a0$30 billion\u00a0<\/a>from loot boxes in 2018. Major games studios like Ubisoft and Take-Two Interactive rely on these tactics for a majority of their corporate\u00a0revenue<\/a>. Yet these studios\u2019 revenue may be disproportionately impacting a small number of gamers- over 90% of this revenue is generated from a small number of gamers who are called\u00a0\u201cwhales.\u201d<\/a>\u00a0These \u201cwhales,\u201d or gamers who spend disproportionate amounts on in-game purchases, may be already exhibiting concerning gambling behavior, even if they are under-age.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Loot Boxes Simulate Gambling Behavior<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

According to addictions researchers, loot boxes create\u00a0dynamics<\/a>\u00a0similar to gambling behavior. In a recent survey of adolescents by these Central Queensland University researchers, they found that a\u00a0majority<\/a>\u00a0of the best-selling video games had loot boxes, that almost all adolescents aged 12-17 or 18-24 had played a game with loot boxes, and that the average 12- to 17-year-old spent on average $50 per month on loot boxes. The average 18- to 24-year-old spent on average $72 per month on loot boxes.\u00a0<\/a>Importantly, this same research showed that loot box\u00a0purchases<\/a>\u00a0significantly increased the odds of problem gambling later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Analyses of motivations<\/a> for gamers to purchase loot boxes mirror common reasons for gambling: gamers are exchanging money or something of value in an attempt to influence a future event, the outcome of that future event is not known at the time of the transaction, and chance at least partly determines the outcome. When games are designed to maximize spending as a perceived path to victory within the game, gamers may feel forced to engage in gambling behavior in order to progress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Loot Box Spending May Lead To Problem Gambling<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Emerging research suggests that loot box purchases and similar gambling behavior among children or teens can lead to\u00a0problem gambling<\/a>\u00a0later in life. These activities seem fun and harmless, potentially normalizing risky behavior. Given that many games targeting children (such as\u00a0Pokemon<\/a>\u00a0franchise games) contain these mechanics, parents must be aware of this potential concern and monitor spending in games, ideally requiring parental\u00a0permission<\/a>\u00a0to make any purchases,\u00a0talking<\/a>\u00a0to your children about how gambling works, and\u00a0watching<\/a>\u00a0for problem gambling behavior such as changes in money, changes in behavior and irritability when away from gaming, secrecy, and changes in school performance or social activities. If you are concerned your child has a problem, there are many addiction resources online, including helplines from\u00a0SAMHSA<\/a>\u00a0, the\u00a0National Council on Problem Gambling\u00a0<\/a>, and\u00a0state<\/a>\u00a0helplines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

View on the Forbes Sportsmoney web site<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

While gambling is illegal in the U.S., children can begin gambling as early as 10, and 80% of adolescents\u00a0reported\u00a0gambling in the past year. If your child plays video games, they may be gambling without realizing it. Do you know how to identify gambling behavior and what you can do if you suspect there is a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7494,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[11],"class_list":["post-115","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-media-and-pubs","tag-gambling-and-gaming"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/jason-w-osborne\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/jason-w-osborne\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/jason-w-osborne\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/jason-w-osborne\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7494"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/jason-w-osborne\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=115"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/jason-w-osborne\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/jason-w-osborne\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=115"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/jason-w-osborne\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=115"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/jason-w-osborne\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=115"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}