Boxed in: Loot boxes purchased and opened by adolescents

Sakura Cannestra

The video game industry is projected to make over $150 billion dollars in revenue this year, according to Statista. A rapidly growing portion of that revenue comes from transactions within games through various monetization mechanics, including loot boxes.

“Loot boxes,” also called in-game purchases with random items, are a type of monetization mechanic wherein a player spends either real world money or in-game currency to purchase a set of randomized items in-game, which have random rarity and value, but cannot be transferred back to real world money. It's a blind box in a video game.

Psychologists have been studying the connection between loot boxes and problem gambling, with a 2018 survey and subsequent study finding a strong link between people who regularly purchase loot boxes and people who fit the psychological profile for problem gamblers.

This project looked at data available in a study conducted by Dr. David Zendle, Rachel Meyer and Harriet Over. The data for this project comes from a survey of adolescents from multiple countries (not including the U.S., as teenagers often cannot be legally surveyed without parental consent) asking about loot box spending and opening habits, as well as the games played.

First, out of the 1,155 teenagers who responded to this study, 468 had bought loot boxes in the past, while 687 had not. However, 970 respondents have opened loot boxes compared to the 185 who have not. Many adolescents utilize the freely provided loot boxes.

Below, I’ve divided these figured up by age (16, 17 and 18 years old), but the same trend occurs. About the same number of 16- and 17-year-old teens responded to this survey, 305 and 307 respectively, but 543 18-year-olds responded. These charts, again showing those who have purchased and those who have opened loot boxes, demonstrate the continuing trend of teens engaging with free loot box content more regularly.

There are a wide variety of games, though the type of game often has little to no bearing on whether it will have randomized monetization mechanics. This survey also asked gamers what games they purchased the most loot boxes in, what games they had opened the most loot boxes in, and what games they played that had loot boxes in it. Respondents only answered one out of these three questions, depending on whether they had purchased or opened loot boxes in the past, so the numbers demonstrated here are slightly skewed in that regard. These three graphs list the top 20 most common responses, and have the same maximum x value to show the stark contrast between the categories.

The question that was answered the least was when respondents played games with loot boxes but did not open or purchase any. Online multiplayer games like Counter Strike: Global Offensive and Team Fortress 2 dominate this chart. Also, keep an eye on Activision’s Hearthstone and Overwatch, as they’re pretty high up on all three of these charts.

This next graph features the top 20 games respondents open loot boxes in, without purchasing loot boxes. Right away, you might notice that Activision’s Overwatch is reigning supreme, with other well known titles like League of Legends also taking a spot. This will also be the only instance where the top spot is not the “Other” category, meaning Overwatch players outnumber the other 72 games listed as top openers.

Finally, this graph features the games in which players purchase the most loot boxes. Again, the two Activision games hold top spots, as well as League of Legends. Another thing worth noticing about these three charts is how the games represented span console — Marvel: Future Fight is a mobile game, and other games on the list have mobile compatibility.

These graphs show how easy it is for adolescents to access loot boxes and what games produce the most exposures. Thanks!