“By examining the perceived value of loot-box rewards, it becomes clear that consumers are driven to gamble for virtual goods based on the value they bestow in the virtual world - irrespective of any real-world value,” the paper says. It incorporates the findings of dozens of previous game-related studies. “There’s data showing that when you expose children to gambling tendencies, they can develop gambling problems as adults,” he said.Įvans laid out his thinking in a 60-page paper titled “Pandora’s Loot Box,” published last month. That’s no different from winning money in the real world.”Įvans added that casino-like behavior is being fostered in kids. “The items you can win have a perceived value in the game world. “Loot boxes are a game of chance,” he said. “These items have no value outside the game, and each purchase provides an item to be used within a game,” he said by email.Įvans countered that this is disingenuous. Stanley Pierre-Louis, president of the Entertainment Software Assn., a video game industry trade group, insisted that comparing loot boxes to gambling “is misleading and wrong.”

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