Purchasing virtual loot boxes in video games is associated with increased rates of problem gambling and human victimization among adults who already participate in traditional gambling. The study shows that spending money on these randomized digital prizes carries behavioral risks comparable to casino table games and stronger than sports betting. The results of this study were published in the journal Addictive Behaviors.
Loot boxes are virtual chests or crates found in many popular video games. Players spend real-world money to open them in hopes of receiving rare digital rewards such as character costumes, weapon designs, and special abilities. The contents of these digital packages are completely randomized. Players may spend a few dollars and win a coveted prize, but they are far more likely to receive a generic, low-value item.
The psychological mechanics of opening a loot box are very similar to those found on a traditional casino floor. Like slot machines, loot boxes rely on unpredictable outcomes to maintain participant interest. Players don’t know how many times they have to pay before getting something rare. In the video game, this experience is wrapped up in flashing lights, celebratory sounds, and animations that suggest near misses when rare items are about to appear.
Because of these similarities, experts argue that video games may be training young people to gamble. Past research has proven that teenagers and young adults who participate in loot boxes are more likely to eventually try traditional gambling. However, researchers knew little about how monetized gaming mechanics affect older adults who have already established gambling habits.
Psychologist Hyun S. Kim and a team of researchers from academic institutions across Canada wanted to understand this special dynamic. They set out to identify the characteristics of adults who combine traditional gambling with video game purchases. They also wanted to see if purchasing digital items worsened traditional gambling problems. To find out, the research team analyzed data from a large study of Canadian adults.
Researchers identified a group of 3,709 participants who gambled at least once a month and also played video games on a regular basis. They divided these people into two different groups. The first group consisted of 1,922 people who spent real money on loot boxes in the past year. The second group included 1,787 gamers who gambled but did not pay for randomly selected digital items.
Participants completed a questionnaire detailing their demographic background. They also answered psychological health questions indicating whether they experienced various mental health conditions or behavioral addiction symptoms. The researchers then measured the severity of each individual’s gambling problem. This indicator tracks unhealthy behaviors such as chasing losses, borrowing money to gamble, and feeling guilty about playing games of chance.
In addition to behavioral symptoms, the team assessed real-world gambling harms. These harms represent the obvious negative effects of uncontrolled gambling habits. Participants reported whether their actions caused financial crisis, strained relationships, or trouble at work.
The data revealed significant demographic differences between the two gamer groups. Those who purchased loot boxes were younger and more likely to be single. They were also more likely to have a college degree, maintain full-time employment, and earn an upper-middle-class income.
Mental health concerns and addictive behaviors were significantly higher among loot box buyers. They reported higher rates of depression, generalized anxiety disorder, and panic disorder. Buyers were also more likely to engage in compulsive behavior. They reported higher frequencies of substance abuse, excessive online shopping, and unhealthy amounts of video game playing.
When assessing gambling habits, the differences between the groups were quite significant. More than half of loot box buyers met criteria for moderate risk or problem gambling. In contrast, only about one-fifth of the non-buyer group met the same risk criteria. Spending real money on digital items has always been associated with more serious gambling problems.
To confirm that the virtual box was indeed relevant to these issues, the researchers controlled for participants’ other gambling activities. They took into account the time and money individuals spent on bingo, scratch tickets, sports betting, and casino games. Even after controlling for these other habits, purchasing loot boxes remained strongly associated with increased gambling severity and personal harm.
In fact, the impact of buying a loot box was stronger than the impact of playing the lottery or betting on sports. Only playing electronic gambling machines showed a stronger association with problem gambling than buying virtual crates.
The researchers performed several different mathematical checks on the data to ensure the results were stable. They took into account the age of the participants to ensure that the younger demographic of the purchasing group did not skew the data. We also removed participants who claimed to have won more money than they lost, in case they did not answer honestly. The association between loot box spending and problem gambling remained stable across tests.
These results lend weight to the argument that monetized video game features function as a form of gambling. In many countries, the legal definition of gambling requires players to wager money in gambling games in order to win prizes. Video games always offer some kind of digital item in a loot box, so developers can argue that there’s no real risk of losing it, even if the item is unwanted.
Because of these details, most consumer protection laws do not apply to video game marketplaces. Some countries, such as Belgium, restrict randomized digital purchases under their existing gambling framework. Other regions simply require game publishers to display the mathematical probability of winning a rare item. Researchers suggest that applying traditional casino regulations such as age verification and mandatory spending limits could reduce the harm experienced by vulnerable players.
This study has some limitations. Because the data were collected at a single point in time, researchers cannot directly determine the sequence of events. It is impossible to know whether purchasing a loot box caused a worsening of a participant’s casino habits. Similarly, people with serious gambling problems are also more likely to be drawn to the unpredictable rewards of video games.
This methodology also relied entirely on self-reported behavior. Participants had to estimate from memory how much they had spent on digital items and casino games over the past year. People often have trouble remembering their financial habits accurately, which can lead to inaccurate estimates of scientific data. Future research could use digital tracking tools to record exactly how often and how much money players spend in real time.
Finally, mental health status was tracked through survey questions rather than a formal clinical interview. Some people may identify with daily symptoms of anxiety, even if they don’t meet the strict medical criteria for a mental illness. Future research may benefit from using medical professionals to diagnose these conditions. Expanding this research to include teens could help experts understand how these digital spending habits affect young people’s development before they reach the legal age to enter a casino.
The study, “Loot box purchases are associated with problem gambling severity and harms beyond traditional gambling activities,” was authored by Hyoun S. Kim, Youssef Allami, Darren R. Christensen, David C. Hodgins, Daniel S. McGrath, Fiona Nicoll, Carrie A. Shaw, Rhys Stevens, and Robert J. Williams.
