Loot Box Spending And Problematic Gambling Linked, Researchers Say

A new study conducted by researchers in the UK has found a "robustly verified" link between problematic gambling and loot boxes in video games.

The report (via BBC) was conducted by researchers at the University of Plymouth and University of Wolverhampton and commissioned by the charity GamblingAware. It took existing data and examined elements such as gender, the age of spenders, and how much revenue is provided by a smaller number of spenders.

Based on this research, the study found that up to 40% of children who play games have opened loot boxes, though it does not mention if this number includes earned loot boxes or only paid ones. It also said about 5% of players generate half the revenue from these loot boxes, meaning a small number of players are spending an exorbitant amount of money, and that younger, less-educated men are the most-likely to use them.

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