27 Facts About Loot boxes

Loot boxes were popularised through their inclusion in several games throughout the mid-2010s.

Loot boxes are often given to players during play, for instance as rewards for leveling up their character or completing a multiplayer game without quitting.

Some loot boxes can be redeemed immediately, while redeeming others requires further consumable items dressed as "keys".

Loot boxes are generally redeemed through an in-game interface which dresses the process with appealing visual and audio effects.

Items obtained from loot boxes and equipped or used by the player's character are nearly always visible to all other players during the course of a game, such as seeing a character skin or hearing a voice line.

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Loot boxes are an extension of randomised loot drop systems from earlier video games, frequently used to give out randomised rewards in massively multiplayer online role-playing games or similar games.

Loot boxes took this approach and formulated a monetisation approach used by free-to-play games in mobile gaming.

Loot boxes incorporate elements of the randomness of acquiring gachapon capsule toys.

Loot boxes are considered part of the compulsion loop of game design to keep players invested in a game.

Proponents for the use of loot boxes have countered complaints that they are gambling systems by likening them to opening collectible toys such as Hatchimals or booster packs from physical collectible card games like Magic: the Gathering.

Monetisation schemes like loot boxes can help provide long tail revenue, well after the release of the game.

Developers found that the mechanics of loot boxes are more accepted by non-Western audiences and younger Western audiences, where these groups have developed different consumption patterns than older Western players, particularly as a result of growing up playing free-to-play mobile titles.

Steven Wright for PC Gamer observed that several of the concerns for loot boxes related to gambling had been previously experienced through lawsuits in the 1990s against the baseball card industry as well as with the physical Pokemon Trading Card Game, but these cases did not impact either arena to a significant degree.

The Victorian Commission for Gambling and Liquor Regulation has stated that it considers loot boxes to be gambling, but does not have the authority to prosecute companies registered overseas.

The report, released in mid-September 2018, found that loot boxes are "psychologically akin to gambling", and that games with loot boxes are potentially "exploiting gambling disorders among their customers".

The Committee recommended that games with loot boxes be labeled to warn of parental guidance and indicate that they contain "in-game gambling content" and suggest that such games be rated to represent the legal gambling age in the country.

Gambling Commission within the Department of Internal Affairs for New Zealand stated, in response to a citizen's email, that currently in their view "loot boxes do not meet the legal definition of gambling", but are reviewing the situation as it progresses.

The Commission stated that for loot boxes in Overwatch, the action of opening a loot box is a game of chance to receive items of some perceived value to players, and there is no means to directly purchase in-game currency to obtain a specific item, while games like FIFA 18 merge reality and fantasy by using real-life athletes to promote the loot-box system.

ARJEL noted that items from loot boxes do not normally have monetary value, and even when they are traded through skin gambling, the publisher of such games do not participate in that arena, thus distancing loot boxes from other forms of gambling.

In February 2018 Germany's Commission for Youth Media Protection announced research into loot boxes undertaken at the University of Hamburg which concluded that they present features "typical of gambling markets".

In February 2019, the Polish Ministry of Finance issued a statement saying that loot boxes are not gambling in the light of the Polish law, although it noted that they may well constitute gambling in other jurisdictions.

UKIE, the video game industry trade organisation for the United Kingdom, asserted its stance that loot boxes do not constitute gambling and are "already covered by and fully compliant with existing relevant UK regulations".

ESRB considers that loot boxes are equivalent to collectible card game booster packs, and that the player is always receiving something of value with opening a loot-box purchase, even if it is not something the player desires.

Entertainment Software Association, the parent organization of the ESRB, asserted loot boxes are not a form of gambling, stressing that they are a voluntary and optional aspect in these games.

Class-action lawsuit filed in California in June 2020 against Apple asserted that through the games using loot boxes mechanics offered by Apple's App Store, Apple "engages in predatory practices enticing consumers, including children to engage in gambling and similar addictive conduct in violation of this and other laws designed to protect consumers and to prohibit such practices".

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The EA case seeks a jury trial to decide if the Ultimate Team loot boxes are considered gambling mechanisms under California law, and seek in damages.

In January 2019, Epic Games adjusted the mechanics of Fortnite: Save the World loot boxes that are purchased with real-world funds, allowing purchasers to see the contents of the loot box before buying, as to address concerns of loot boxes being related to gambling.