{"id":4688,"date":"2022-06-06T11:30:50","date_gmt":"2022-06-06T09:30:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eticasfoundation.org\/?p=4688"},"modified":"2022-06-06T16:30:14","modified_gmt":"2022-06-06T14:30:14","slug":"loot-boxes-how-the-gaming-industry-manipulates-and-exploits-consumers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dev.eticasfoundation.org\/es\/loot-boxes-how-the-gaming-industry-manipulates-and-exploits-consumers\/","title":{"rendered":"Loot boxes: How the gaming industry manipulates and exploits consumers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Manipulative design, aggressive marketing, and misleading probabilities. Loot boxes present consumers with an array of problematic practices. Consumer organizations all over the world are coming together to call for regulation.<\/p>\n

The Norwegian Consumer Council (NCC) published the report \u201cINSERT COIN: How the gaming industry exploits consumers using loot boxes\u201d today, 20 consumer groups from 18 countries are launching a coordinated action asking authorities to act. Eticas supports their call and asks for Spanish authorities to act too.<\/p>\n

Loot boxes are \u201cmystery packages\u201d of digital content in video games which consumers purchase with real money. The contents of loot boxes are randomized, containing in-game content which gives gamers advantages or cosmetic items to use in the game. Consumers have no way of knowing what they contain until they have paid for them.<\/p>\n

‘Loot boxes have been the source of several controversies already. Through our work we have established that the sale and presentation of loot boxes often involve exploiting consumers through predatory mechanisms, fostering addiction, targeting vulnerable consumer groups and more’, says Finn Myrstad, director of digital policy at the Norwegian Consumer Council.<\/p>\n

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A variety of problematic mechanisms<\/h2>\n

The report shows how gaming companies utilize a variety of highly problematic practices to increase their own revenue.<\/p>\n

‘Games manipulate consumers to spend large sums of money through aggressive marketing, exploitation of cognitive biases, and misleading probabilities’, says Myrstad.<\/p>\n

The report highlights problematic practices, including:<\/p>\n