![]() A bill introduced in Minnesota last month would prohibit the sale of video games with loot boxes to under-18s and require a severe warning: “This game contains a gambling-like mechanism that may promote the development of a gaming disorder that increases the risk of harmful mental or physical health effects, and may expose the user to significant financial risk.” Photograph: Electronic ArtsĬoncerns have been taken up by politicians across the globe. There was a furious fan response to the imposition of various loot boxes on the new Star Wars Battlefront game last year, which eventually led to their complete removal from the game.įan backlash against loot boxes in last year’s Star Wars Battlefront game led to their removal. The introduction of these elements to video games was gradual, but the backlash against them has been building in force for the past six months. My kids, who ask me why I am playing Final Fantasy all the time, will never understand how I selfishly spent money I should have been using for their activities.” ![]() “I was adamant that I would not spend again,” he said, in a compelling Reddit post that described how he became addicted to buying in-game perks, which he later described as ‘digital garbage’. One gamer describes playing Final Fantasy: Brave Exvius, struggling for hours on one level before breaking their resolve and putting down $20. The game, they write, “has spawned a wild multibillion-dollar world of online casino gambling it’s barely regulated and open to any kid who wants in”. Sports magazine ESPN reported that Counter-Strike led one teenager into compulsive gambling. Please consider how unregulated micro transactions can affect the youth of the world.” “At my worst I was working two jobs and considering dropping out of high school. ![]() “I started spending on in-app purchases, moved to real video games, started on CS:GO skins, then into the gambling scene there,” writes Kensgold, a Reddit user who claims to have spent $10,000. I was adamant that I would not spend again … I am currently $15,800 in debt However, a minority of players, like Brian, report that loot boxes have led to addictive behaviour. ![]() The chances of obtaining the rarest rewards from a loot box vary from game to game, from around 10% to under 1%.ĮA has recently insisted that Fifa Ultimate Team is not gambling – despite it being a game of chance. It is possible to spend thousands and never unearth the rarest players, like Cristiano Ronaldo. On Fifa Ultimate Team, for instance, there’s a chance you might unearth Harry Kane in one player pack, yet be lumbered with Peter Crouch in 10 others. The items won – typically “skins” that change the look of in-game characters or items – can often be sold and converted into real money on emerging online secondary marketplaces that the games industry has been sluggish to clamp down on.Ĭonsternation around loot boxes centres on the fact that they contain unpredictable rewards. Loot boxes are increasingly becoming part of the business model for developers forever searching for new revenue streams, as profits hit record highs. Others charge for optional extra content. Some games offer virtual items for sale, or ask players to pay a small amount of money instead of waiting a few hours for a new mission to unlock. On Fifa Ultimate Team it is possible to spend thousands and never unearth the rarest players.
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