Zendle, David, Meyer, Rachel, Cairns, Paul Antony orcid.org/0000-0002-6508-372X et al. (2 more authors) (2020) The prevalence of loot boxes in mobile and desktop games. Addiction. ISSN 1360-0443
Abstract
Background and Aims Loot boxes are items in video games that may be bought for real-world money but provide randomized rewards. Formal similarities between loot boxes and gambling have led to concerns that they may provide a ‘gateway’ to gambling amongst children. However, the availability of loot boxes is unclear. This study aimed to determine what proportion of top-grossing video games contained loot boxes, and how many of those games were available to children. Design, setting and cases Survey of the 100 top-grossing games on both the Google Play store and the Apple App store, and the top 50 most-played games on Steam according to the data aggregator SteamSpy. Measurements The prevalence of loot boxes was measured for each platform outlined above, split by age rating. Findings A total of 58.0%of the top games on the Google Play store contained loot boxes, 59.0%of the top iPhone games contained loot boxes and 36.0% of the top games on the Steamstore contained loot boxes; 93.1% of the Android games that featured loot boxes and 94.9% of the iPhone games that featured loot boxes were deemed suitable for children aged 12+. Age ratings were more conservative for desktop games. Only 38.8% of desktop games that featured loot boxes were available to children aged 12+. Conclusions Loot boxes appear to be prevalent in video games that are deemed suitable for children, especially on mobile platforms.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2020 Society for the Study of Addiction. This is an author-produced version of the published paper. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher’s self-archiving policy. Further copying may not be permitted; contact the publisher for details. |
Keywords: | exposure to gambling,gambling,gambling in video games,loot boxes,prevalence,,problem gambling |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of York |
Academic Units: | The University of York > Faculty of Sciences (York) > Computer Science (York) |
Depositing User: | Pure (York) |
Date Deposited: | 12 Feb 2020 09:50 |
Last Modified: | 21 Jan 2025 17:45 |
Published Version: | https://doi.org/10.1111/add.14973 |
Status: | Published |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1111/add.14973 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:156876 |
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