#loot-boxes

#loot-boxes

Making games requires testing them. For microtransaction-fueled gacha games, that means putting your own money on the line to sample the merchandise. That's apparently what led Street Fighter 2 producer Yoshiki Okamoto to spend over $500,000 of his own money on his own game's loot boxes. Monster Strike is one of Japan's most lucrative gacha games and it's one Okamoto helped create after leaving Capcom in the early aughts.

Common Sense Media's new report, "Betting on Boys: Understanding Gambling Among Adolescent Boys," finds teen boys are largely exposed to gambling through sports betting and video games "in loot boxes, skin cases, and other reward systems that blur the line between playing and paying." More than a third of the boys surveyed, ages 11-17, admitted to gambling in the past year, with that number rising to nearly half of the 17-year-olds. Additionally, 60% reported seeing ads for gambling on YouTube and social media.

The Austrian Supreme Court has ruled that loot boxes present within video games do not constitute gambling under their gambling laws. This comes after a player attempted to reclaim nearly €20,000 ($24,000) spent on in-game purchases in a football video game. The plaintiff spent money in the game on loot boxes between 2017 and 2021, with the purpose of acquiring digital players in order to enhance his virtual team in the game.

"It's something I think Valve does not get anywhere near enough criticism about," Hall told Eurogamer. "I'm honestly disgusted with gambling mechanics in video games at all--they have absolutely no place. My challenge to game developers is that if they think these things are not a problem, they make the data available to universities who are crying out to study this stuff."