Loot boxes, video game features used by nearly 40 percent of children, have clear links to problem gambling, a study showed, reigniting calls for them to be regulated as betting products.
Researchers analyzed 13 studies into the behavior of gamers who spend on loot boxes, which allow players to spend money on randomized in-game rewards that can aid players’ progress or enhance the appearance of characters, without knowing what they will receive.
All but one of the studies showed a clear correlation between the use of loot boxes and problem gambling behavior, under the commonly used Problem Gambling Severity Index (PGSI) measure.
They were “structurally and psychologically akin” to gambling, the report found, yet are used by nearly half of children who play video games.
About 5 percent of loot box users generate half of the £700 million (US$968.82 million) that video games companies make from them each year and about a third of that group are problem gamblers, the report showed.
Loot boxes are unregulated in the UK, whereas countries such as Belgium have deemed them to be gambling products.
Researchers from the University of Plymouth and the University of Wolverhampton, who wrote the report, called for clear labeling and age-rating for loot boxes, as well as disclosure of odds, tools to limit spending voluntarily and prices in real currency.
In practice, an age rating alone is likely to spell the end for most loot boxes, because it would mean that many video games would have an over-18 rating.
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