Differences between people who purchase and earn loot boxes in Overwatch

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Author(s): Larche, Chanel J. ; Chini, Katrina ; Lee, Christopher ; Dixon, Mike J.

Journal: Journal of Gambling Studies

Year Published: 2022

Date Added: October 13, 2022

Many video games include purchasable loot boxes. Some games also allow players to earn loot boxes without spending money. The researchers examined gambling, gaming, and loot-box related harms between people who purchased loot boxes and those who earned them through game play. The researchers compared two samples of people who played Overwatch. One sample consisted of 135 people who bought loot boxes in the last four weeks. The other sample consisted of 117 players who earned loot boxes in the last four weeks. The researchers found that those who bought loot boxes experienced greater harms related to video-game spending. They also had greater risky loot box use, were more impulsive in the non-planning domain, and were more reactive towards loot box outcomes in terms of arousal and urge. But those who earned loot boxes had greater gambling-related harms, were more impulsive in the motor domain, and showed more emotional value to loot boxes. There were no differences in problem video-gaming between the two groups.

Citation: Larche, C. J., Chini, K., Lee, C., & Dixon, M. J. (2022). To pay or just play? Examining individual differences between purchasers and earners of loot boxes in Overwatch. Journal of Gambling Studies. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10899-022-10127-5

Article DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10899-022-10127-5

Keywords: gambling ; game design ; gaming ; harms ; impulsivity ; loot boxes ; microtransactions ; reward sensitivity

Topics: Gambling Related Harms ; Impulsivity

Conceptual Framework Factors: Psychological - Personality and Temperament ; Types - Structural Characteristics ; Psychological Factors ; Exposure - Convergence of Gaming and Gambling ; Gambling Exposure

Study Design: Descriptive: Survey

Study Population: There were 218 participants in the first sample. These participants paid for loot boxes in Overwatch at least once in the past four weeks. From this sample, responses from 135 participants were included in the analysis. About 40% were female. The age range of participants was between 19 and 61 years of age. There were 220 participants in the second sample. These participants had not purchased an Overwatch loot box in the past four weeks. But they had to have obtained and opened a loot box in Overwatch in the past four weeks. From this sample, responses from 117 participants were included in the analysis.

Sampling Procedure: The researchers created two samples of participants. The samples were collected using Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk). All potential participants had to have played Overwatch at least once in the past four weeks. Participants had to be from predominately English-speaking countries (e.g., Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, Great Britain, and the US). The study was available to people registered on MTurk who had at least a 96% approval rating. They also had to have completed a minimum of 1000 tasks to date.

Study Funding:

This research was supported by the Natural Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada through research grants.