In the past year, several countries have shown an interest in the loot boxes in the gaming world. This is because the question is about the gambling issue with loot boxes. Thus, are eSports Loot Boxes Gambling or Not?
For those not familiar with iGaming and eSports, loot boxes are randomly generated prizes that a player can obtain. However, since loot boxes are bought and only give a random prize, this could be seen as gambling. In fact, several countries such as Belgium and the Netherlands have already made them illegal under their gambling laws.
Loot Boxes and it’s correlation to Gambling
Loot Boxes began appearing in video games around the mid-2000s. Since then, they have become a popular part of the gaming industry. Furthermore, players can get loot boxes as in-game rewards ro from buying them. However, according to eSports Betting experts and websites, obtaining a valuable item is pretty rare.
The problem is because video game loot boxes and gambling have many similarities in common. According to a study about addictive behaviors, “loot boxes overlap with gambling”. In addition, the study is in favor of regulating loot boxes because of its gambling-like mechanisms in video games.
In the study, gaming participants had to answer questions that come from gambling research to determine their gambling behaviors. The result of the answers shows a lot of similar patterns between loot boxes and detrimental gambling habits.
However, the study mentions that even though the patterns are similar, it does not mean that they are the same. On the other hand, it could also mean that loot boxes can lead to risky gambling behaviors.
According to the study, over half of the participants said they spend money to acquire loot boxes. Furthermore, several of them said that they bought more loot boxes because they did not get a valuable item.
