After spending hours in front of a screen, blasting past enemies, exploring new territory and teaming up with other players, a gamer might finally earn themselves rare and desirable in-game items.
Or, they could just pay a few dollars and gamble on getting those desirable items in a “loot box.”
This trend of buying loot boxes has raised red flags for Richmond Addiction Services Society, who says it’s not a lot different than playing slot machines – except the players are kids.
 “We at RASS believe that a loot box is essentially a virtual slot machine that’s been put into most of the games today,” said Daniel Remedios, a prevention specialist at RASS who works with local youth.
“We believe that loot boxes actually have addictive potential.”
At one time, several PC and console games such as Star Wars Battlefront II included items in their loot boxes that could improve a player’s ability in the game. After significant pushback from the gaming community, most now only offer loot boxes that have “cosmetic items” such as new character looks known as “skins.”
However, some of these cosmetic changes are only available for a short period of time. For example, Overwatch currently offers Lunar New Year themed loot boxes for purchase, which “contain items of common, rare, epic or legendary quality.”
“(Loot boxes) can be acquired in some games just by playing the game,” Remedios said. “But there’s always an option where you pay for them. So it’s essentially do you want to spend two or three hours grinding it out for a loot box or do you want to pay $3.99 and get it right away?”
Some countries such as the Netherlands and Belgium have gone so far as to ban loot boxes under gambling regulations.
For Remedios, awareness from parents and caretakers is crucial.
“If your child is playing video games, it doesn’t mean they’re going to be addicted to loot boxes or gambling, but we do believe that when it comes to younger brains, there’s just more vulnerabilities with them, just increasing their risk to gambling in the future,” he said.
“It’s not just loot boxes…a lot of things could have addictive potential. Cell phone, social media use, gaming, substances as well.” Â
Remedios said caretakers can open a dialogue with young gamers to understand their motives behind playing, adding that many games offer a really strong sense of comradery.
“It’s not necessarily that they’re addicted to the game, but maybe they’re just getting that sense of community building that they’re not getting in real life,” he said.
“There’s a lot of gaming communities that are good and you have this group of people that understand you and you’re willing to work together on a goal.”
The Richmond News reached out to Electronic Arts, the maker of Star Wars Battlefront II, Blizzard Entertainment who created Overwatch and Activision, who owns the creator of Destiny II for comment. None of the companies had responded by publication.Â
Anyone with questions or concerns about gaming is encouraged to contact RASS or visit their website at .
