UBC researchers studying video games and addiction say they’ve found a link between loot boxes and gambling.
The study, published last month in Addictive Behaviours, found gamers who are drawn to loot boxes — prizes that can be attained or purchased within a game — share similar behaviours with problem gamblers. Loot boxes are typically used to monetize free games.
Lead author Gabriel Brooks, a PhD student at UBC’s Centre for Gambling Research, says their findings are consistent with concerns that loot boxes overlap with gambling, and support the need for gambling regulations within video games.
A new UBC report links gambling and loot boxes.
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For the study, 144 adults and 113 undergraduates completed online questions that looked at their time spent gaming and monthly expenditure. The researchers also asked questions based on common gambling research, and assessed perceptions and behaviours related to loot boxes.
Most participants thought loot boxes were a form of gambling. About 90 per cent said they had opened a loot box, and more than half reported spending money on them, the UBC report said.
This is a screen grab from the UBC report linking video game loot boxes and gambling.
Researchers also found a correlation between excessive engagement with loot boxes and problem gambling.
They conclude that loot boxes are a form of gambling in video games and should be regulated. His concern is that loot box use could lead to risky gambling behaviours.
Brooks said, in a UBC news release, that more research is needed to study the impacts of loot boxes on youth.
Loot boxes began appearing in video games in the mid-2000s and have grown in popularity, according to a UBC release. Players can earn loot boxes as rewards, or encouraged to buy them using real or virtual currency. Examples are a new outfit for the character to wear or weapon to use.
