Lootboxes NEED to Go! - UK Government Gives up on Lootboxes Battle

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Peter Bytes

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Published on July 26, 2022 4:15:00 PM ● Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2XrheSIQAXc

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Overwatch 2 (2023)

Duration: 5:51

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It's no secret that I'm not really a fan of how games are so heavily monestised these days, espiscally in a game you have to pay full price for. But Lootboxes can be a very malicious part of games that really sucks...

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00:00 - UK Goverment vs Lootboxes
00:48 - Lootboxes
01:20 - Gambling or Not?
02:40 - Malicious Designs
03:47 - Game Design
04:54 - Blessing in Disguise?

#lootboxes #gaming #gamingnews

I want games to be as awesome as possible and that means loot boxes need to **** off.

The United Kingdom (that's where I'm from), the UK goverment have been investigating into and debating wether video game loot boxes should be regulated under gambling and betting laws. While there has been a bit of debate, It's disapointing that the UK goverment has come to the conclusion that it's down to the games industry to regulate itself for now and the UK goverment won't be stepping in to regulate Lootboxes. Telling a lot of the larger corperate games companies to regulate themselves is like telling Hitler not to be a naughty boy.

So if you've been living under a rock and aren't aware of Lootboxes... well to be fair might be a rock worth living under. But lootboxes are a growing trend in games, they're purchasable digital boxes with random items in, from digital trading cards to character skins, games companies let you gamble your cash to open in game lootboxes, you don't know what you'll get in the loot box. In some games the rare items require you to purchase thousands and thousands of lootboxes because certain rewards will be made artificially rare to keep players endlessly buying Loot Boxes.

The debate is wether lootboxes are a form of gambling or not. The common defence is comparing Lootboxes to Kinder Surprises, where you buy a chocolate egg and get a random little toy inside, The UK goverment actually cited Kinder Surprises as evidence in their arguments for Lootboxes not being a form of gambling. To be honest, I believe comparing lootboxes to Kinder Surprises is just insulting. You're still technically gambling with your money on what you get inside the chocolate egg, but it's just a cheap worthless toy, it's no where near the same scale as loot boxes. To even be a little bit comparable, imagine fireworks going off everytime you purchased a Kinder Surprise, and there would have to be a Kinder Surprise store with unlimited stock in your own house, because that's how lootboxes work. Really disapointing from the UK goverment, but disapointing has been a long trend.
It might seem crazy to compare little $2 lootboxes to casino gambling but players will drop thousands and tens of thousands of dollars on these digital mystery boxes in hopes of getting the really rare or legendary contents. I personally believe that because you're putting money into lootboxes and it's a gamble wether or not you get what you desire - you're gambling. That's the definition of gambling - "taking a risky action in the hope of a desired result." There is mountains of evidence and research that link loot boxes to problem gambling.

That's not all with lootboxes, there's malicious design and psychology behind them. Have you noticed that when you open a loot box there's a dramatic build up and fireworks going off? This is to help you get excited with hits of dopamine to get you addicted to the exciting feeling of opening Lootboxes.
It's been found that unpredictable rewards have a strong connection with the human bodies' dopamine system. When you open lootboxes and your body releases dopamine, your brain focuses more and remembers the positive experience, leaving you craving more and this is where addictions can start.
Lootboxes are targeted and marketed towards children. An example would be the Smurfs' Village game - it's for ages four plus, yet there's loads of examples of children spending all of their parents money on the microtransactions and lootboxes. Yes the parents are doing an awful job at being a parent when their children use their credit cards, but these games are still designed with a malicious intention to purposely profit off moments like these. While an innocent free Smurf game on the outside, it is absolutely disgusting that this game is designed so that a $1400 bill is even possible.

I am passionate about games and game development, and when a game designed with services like lootboxes at it's core I can see how it often damages the game. Cosmetic skins in a store or lootboxes are purposely miles better than the ones you earn in game, it can damage the reward structure and incentives for actually playing the game.

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