Over 1 in 10 young gamers get into debt by buying loot boxes.

[dragonflys545]

Over 1 in 10 young gamers get into debt by buying loot boxes

With Christmas approaching, the Gambling Health Alliance (GHA) is warning parents about the financial cost of video games containing paid-for loot boxes.

www.rsph.org.uk

• Almost one in six (15%) young gamers had taken money from their parents without their permission to buy loots boxes;
• One in ten (11%) had used their parents' credit or debit card to fund their loot box purchases;
• One in ten (9%) had borrowed money they couldn't repay to spend on loot boxes;
• Three young gamers' loot box buying habits resulted in their families having to re-mortgage their homes to cover the costs.

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This is crazy...

 

[Lashley]

Yup, more needs to be done to prevent this from happening.

It's definitely getting to the same levels as gambling addiction, just among kids.

 

[SirKai]

Working As Intended

 

[Dreams-Visions]

Well idunno about you, but I'm prepared for the future posts that will inevitably tell us that lootboxes are fine and that they aren't gambling.

 

[Joni]

Not surprising. They are meant to be addictive.

 

[aisback]

Loot boxes are gambling mechanics. The need to be regulated

 

[Dennis8K]

Despicable practice.

Hey publishers if you want to get into gambling, start a casino for, you know, adults.

 

[Fiery Phoenix]

The way it was intended.

 

[Chairman Yang]

Those are insane stats. Lootbox-style mechanics need to be banned. Wouldn't mind if that's extended into the physical card game realm as well.

 

[maximumzero]

Man I stress about overpaying for a bag of chips at a gas station, how some people just throw away money on virtual random nonsense is so foreign to me.

 

[Mona]

I'm deff. Gonna make my niece and nephew stay away from this shit

 

[Sulik2]

Horrible this happens, but less a percent then I would have expected honestly. Real money loot boxes need to just be illegal.

 

[Bigkrev]

I'm going to ask a really stupid question, how are these kids supposed to be making money? "Young Gamers" implys to me "not old enough to have a job", how else would they be getting money for lootboxes other than people giving them money?

 

[Deleted member 63122]

And , maybe, bullying plays a part into this as well. " I got this cool skin and you don't"

 

[Dreams-Visions]

Man I stress about overpaying for a bag of chips at a gas station, how some people just throw away money on virtual random nonsense is so foreign to me.

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Good for you. Keep it that way for as long as you can.

And , maybe, bullying plays a part into this as well. " I got this cool skin and you don't"

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It is known to and has been reported in the past, yes. But more people just like cool stuff and like their avatars to look cool. That's why the skin/cosmetic market exists.

Humans love to peacock. When put behind gambling mechanics, it causes massive overspend. Which is the goal.

 

[Ramirez]

My kid accidentally bought a $50 PVZ package years ago, and after that I locked all of the accounts with password payments. Shitty practice, but the parents have to be on top of it too.

 

[ArkhamFantasy]

I'm going to ask a really stupid question, how are these kids supposed to be making money? "Young Gamers" implys to me "not old enough to have a job", how else would they be getting money for lootboxes other than people giving them money?

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It's in the OP, they're stealing.

 

[AndrewDean84]

Shocked it's that low and high at the same time.

 

[gitrektali]

Obligatory

 

[Cenauru]

Psychological manipulation is bad, full stop. It's despicable that people accept it at all just because it doesn't affect them.

 

[Bigkrev]

It's in the OP, they're stealing.

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I mean, if they are spending $10 on lootboxes, how would they even be getting $10 if not stealing? The fact the percentage is as low as 15% tells me most kids are not stealing from their parents.

 

[RailWays]

Horrible this happens, but less a percent then I would have expected honestly. Real money loot boxes need to just be illegal.

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Yep. Let developers put a price tag to actual content instead of the gambling shit.

 

[SwampBastard]

Holy shit.

 

[Enduin]

It's amazing, but also sadly not really that surprising, we've gotten to this point when any half intelligent person could tell this shit was radioactive from the very start. Greed and profit over everything else.

 

[Morrigan]

I'm going to ask a really stupid question, how are these kids supposed to be making money? "Young Gamers" implys to me "not old enough to have a job", how else would they be getting money for lootboxes other than people giving them money?

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Apparently they use their parents' credit card (one line says "without permission" and the 2nd line is more ambiguous there), but I do have to wonder how they can do that so easily. I sure as shit wouldn't have been able to do that as a kid.

 

[adj_noun]

 

[Deleted member 10737]

Three young gamers' loot box buying habits resulted in their families having to re-mortgage their homes to cover the costs.

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god damn...

 

[jon bones]

governments everywhere need to step in and regulate the shit outta this

 

[ArkhamFantasy]

I mean, if they are spending $10 on lootboxes, how would they even be getting $10 if not stealing? The fact the percentage is as low as 15% tells me most kids are not stealing from their parents.

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That's not a low%, that's millions of kids.

 

[Issen]

Working As Intended

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One and done.

 

[Sanka]

Gacha is fun. If there wasn't that exchanging money for virtual coins aspect to it.

 

[Dark Ninja]

Does "borrow" mean steal who's lending them money? Also what game still has lootboxes or do they mean gacha system? Mobile games I assume since everything has shifted to battle passes and high priced direct buys.

 

[dragonflys545]

I've been playing COD: BO Cold War and I have this urge to buy a battle pass because it's so in your face all the time.

I can't imagine what it's like for those who is addicted to this shit.

 

[Dreams-Visions]

Apparently they use their parents' credit card (one line says "without permission" and the 2nd line is more ambiguous there), but I do have to wonder how they can do that so easily. I sure as shit wouldn't have been able to do that as a kid.

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Well, when you were a kid, I assume online purchasing of games and microtransactions wasn't a thing.

I would assume perhaps the kid uses their parents game console where the CC information was auto-saved for recurring billing purposes. They then buy something from the store without permission from the parent using the billing info that was already on the machine.

 

[Jedi2016]

But it makes the rich richer! Working as intended.

 

[Deleted member 63122]

That's sad

 

[Deleted member 13328]

I'm all for it as long as I get free content.

/s

 

[platocplx]

yep this is why I am glad I will never support FTP games, or even get wrapped up in ever buying even cosmetics just a total waste of money and it can def be addictive to people sadly.

 

[RedOnePunch]

My nephew seems to only want to play games for the cosmetics thanks to Fortnite. He's 10yrs old. The game just brings out the worst in him.

 

[Morrigan]

Well, when you were a kid, I assume online purchasing of games and microtransactions wasn't a thing.

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No, but credit cards and mail-orders were a thing, and it's fairly similar I think.

I would assume perhaps the kid uses their parents game console where the CC information was auto-saved for recurring billing purposes. They then buy something from the store without permission from the parent using the billing info that was already on the machine.

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That's true, but don't consoles have parental lock features precisely to avoid this sort of thing? And wouldn't the parents notice the charges and put a stop to the recurring purchases before it got out of hand?
Not trying to be difficult, I'm not surprised that there's instances of this happening, but in such a widespread way does surprise me. It's certainly alarming.

 

[Digital Dinosaur]

Around five years ago I recall reading accounts about the people brought in to monetize games at big publishers. Long story short, it was pure evil and immediately became the primary principle informing the design of experiences. How could it not have? You have to insure the game is fundamentally unsatisfying to play without a steady expenditure of real money into the slot machine. It's the business model.


And while the parents have some blame, it doesn't change the fact that the products are being designed to turn kids into gamblers. I wonder what the reaction would have been to a requirement for all games with real money gatcha to have a warning label on the front cover - that said "RISK OF GAMBLING ADDICTION".

 

[J75]

Yeah what a shame. I stay far away from any of those lootboxes, GAAS, MicroTX, etc games even ones that I was a bit interested on like Genshin Impact. No thanks.

 

[Powerofthecloud]

Meanwhile in the free epic game thread people are like where do they get all the games from that are free? How is it possible?

 

[ShadowFlare]

Yup, looks like there's more and more evidence that "blind box" products needs to be regulated like gambling. Not sure if an outright ban is the answer because we allow lots gambling and addictive products to be on the market, but stuff like lootboxes, pokemon/mtg cards, and randomized toys shouldn't sold to kids.

 

[Trigonometrize]

Take research from targeted activist groups with a grain of salt.

The Gambling Health Alliance

The objective of the Alliance is to bring together organisations and individuals, specifically policy makers, who have a shared interest in reducing the damage caused to health and wellbeing from gambling.

The Alliance will support policy-making and policy makers to address the social, economic and cultural factors that contribute to gambling harm and the inequalities in health caused by it. The alliance will seek to:

• Highlight the levels of gambling harm
• Engage and inform policy makers, Government, NGOs and public health communities in order to encourage a coherent and co-ordinated response to reducing gambling harms
• Promote evidence so it can be translated into practical steps
• Undertake periodic surveys and polling to inform GHA campaigns to increase awareness of the health harms from gambling
• Focus on prevention, early intervention, and increased community engagement.

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[Keikaku]

This shit needs to be universally banned. My little brother was putting hundreds in to FUT packs but thankfully I managed to persuade him to stop.

 

[Mankoto]

Over the last maybe 3 years I overall have about 10k in Credit Card debt. All of that coming from Gacha. I have a good job, so money isn't the issue. Stopped throwing money at gacha very recently and started putting it in the stock market and started making money instead of losing it. Funny how that works.

 

[jwk94]

I'll never understand how people get this into loot boxes.

 

[Lobster Roll]

This doesn't go into paid skins at all, does it? I've seen people argue that outright purchasing of skins is more reasonable, but every single time a new skin pops up in Fortnite, even people on Era are opening their wallets to look like Batman for $20. In Warzone, the skins are now approaching $30, and if I recall, Apex also had some gaudy price points when I paid.

I agree that the gambling mechanics of loot boxes need to go, but I also wonder if people are more likely to spend more money on boxes than they are on direct, overpriced skins.

 

[AlexBasch]

I still enjoy FIFA because of the career mode and the casual online matches against players.

But I'm still pretty much saddened by the overall focus on FUT as each year goes by. Like, most of the achievements are tied to that overly complicated game mode with gambling features, it's unbelievable.